Group Conferencing

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  Restorative group conference involves face-to-face contact among the community of people most affected by a crime, the victim(s), the offender(s), the family, friends, stakeholders and key supporters.  Restorative group conferences are incident based.  A conference empowers those affected to have a voice, looking at underlying causes.  Decisions are made by the group and end in an agreement acceptable to everyone.

       Goals of Group Conferencing
*   Provide an opportunity for those who are most
     impacted  to be directly involved in the
     discussion of  the offense and in the decision
     regarding how the referred individual  can take
     accountability for the the harm done.
 *   Increase the offender's awareness of the human
     impact of his or her behavior and provide an   
     opportunity to take full responsibility.
*   Allow both offender and victim to reconnect
     back into  the community and to key
     community support systems.      

Group Conferencing can be used in many different situations where harm or conflict has occurred.  Referred individual, family members, justice personal, school staff, administrators, resource     providers, community support, and all other     interested parties attends the meeting to support     the referred individual in reaching identified goals. 
When used in a criminal or delinquency case and a clear victim and a clear offender has been identified the victim family and supports, offender family and supports, all meet to come together and reach an agreement by consensus about how the offender might make right the wrongdoing. 

        

            Conferencing Process
The conference facilitator contacts the identified
individuals to explain the process and invite them to the conference.  The facilitator also asks the identified parties  to identify key  members of their support systems, who also will be invited to participate.  

*     Begins with referred individual  describing the
        incident.  
*     Victim describes the impact is has had on their
       well being and how they were affected. 
*     The other participants then describe the impact
       of the incident on their lives. 
*     The offender is given opportunity to speak
       about what he heard. 
*     Victim(s) and victim(s) supporters share their 
        ideas about how the harm be repaired.
*     Consensus is reached by the victim(s) and
       offender(s) and an agreement is signed.
               
Through the dialogue, the referred individual is faced with the impact of his/her behavior on those most impacted, direct victim,  victims family and friends, on the offender's own family and friends, and on community stakeholders.  After a thorough discussion of impacts, the affected party is asked to identify their desired needs for the outcome of the conference.  This gives those affected the opportunity to shape the obligations that will be placed on the offender.  All participants contribute to the problem-solving process of determining how the referred individual might best repair the harm he/she has caused.  The session ends with the participants signing an agreement that outlines their expectations and commitments.