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Restorative Justice Diversion
Restorative Justice Diversion emphasizes the recognition and repair of harm caused by crimes, while lessening involvement of participants in the criminal justice system. Restorative Justice has been shown to reduce re-offense rates by up to 50% and yields much higher satisfaction rates among participants than the current criminal justice system.
Our Diversion programs use several different restorative processes through which victims are heard and understood, offenders take responsibility for harm, and loved ones and community members offer support. We bring together affected parties including the person harmed, the responsible participant, and when appropriate, representatives from the community to create an actionable plan to repair harm. Our goal is to empower participants to take ownership, build empathy, and restore relationships with self, family, and community through meaningful action.
Victim-Offender Dialogue
Victim-Offender Dialogue is a facilitated process where participants meet face-to-face to address the personal nature of the offense, take responsibility for their actions, and repair harm.
These mediations revolve around issues such as simple assault, harassment, theft, property crimes, and other similar offenses. Services are free and voluntary for victims. Victims are not contacted until an intake process has established the ability of the offender* to be available, honest, and accountable for dialogue regarding the incident.
* While the word “offender” is commonly used in the criminal justice system, we intentionally use positive strength-based language with our participants.
“I was thankful to participate in this program. It gave me the chance to talk to the boys that damaged my property and let them know how I felt. It was also good to hear about them and I was glad they apologized to me.”
— Victim, Homeowner
“I’m glad there is a program like this in our community. I believe it is a good way for our youth to learn from their mistakes.”
— Victim, Business Owner
What Are Circles?
Circles are a Restorative Practice that bring together community members in a facilitated environment to share thoughts and feelings in a brave and safe space.
CRP utilizes the Circle model to address specific incidents including traffic and substance (alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco) violations.
ReThinking Substances
ReThinking Substances is an evidence-based, voluntary Restorative Justice program designed for youth and young adults with a first-time ticket for underage possession of alcohol, marijuana, or tobacco. ReThinking Substances teaches accountability and impact awareness, and includes a personalized action plan for each participant to address the impact their decisions have on self, family, and community.“It was easy to see from the first second I walked in the door that you guys all genuinely care and want to do all you can to help. I learned a lot from the circles and meetings and I honestly can say that the program really helped me.”
— Participant, RTS
“I liked this program because it showed me that relationships can be repaired and trust can be brought back.”
— Youth Participant, RTS
Traffic Circle
Traffic Circle is a program for youth and young adults who have received traffic infractions and misdemeanors. This process teaches accountability and impact awareness, and includes a personalized action plan to address the impact their decisions have on self, family, and community. Participation is voluntary and meetings are led by staff or a team of trained volunteer mediators from the community who facilitate the dialogue.“I was surprised to see my son being so confident and comfortable in this process. Support was awesome.”
— Parent, Traffic Circles
“I think this program has opened my eyes and given me an opportunity to better myself.”
— Youth Participant, Traffic Circles
“I was able to learn and actually reflect upon my decisions.”
— Youth Participant, Traffic Circles
Our Impact
Victim-Offender Dialogues
Success Rate
since 2014
0
%
Rethinking
Substances
Success Rate
since 2014
0
%
Traffic
Circle
Success Rate
since 2015
0
%
Our Program Funders
Local Partners
State Partners
Resources for Restorative Justice Diversion
The Colorado Restorative Justice Coordinating Council (RJ Council)
The Colorado Restorative Justice Coordinating Council (RJ Council) was formed via HB07-1129 by the Colorado State Legislature. Our mandate is to provide training, technical assistance, and education related to Restorative Justice in the state of Colorado, support the development of Restorative Justice programs, and serve as a repository of information for those programs.
National Association of Community and Restorative Justice (NACRJ)
The National Association of Community and Restorative Justice promotes effective forms of justice that are safe, just, equitable, sustainable, reparative, and socially constructive, addressing not only crime, but conflict, incivility, injustice, and all forms of harm. NACRJ hosts the biennial National Conference of Community and Restorative Justice, and provides supports for members.
FAQs for Restorative Justice Diversion
ReThinking Substances
Participants can be referred from the court, police officers, or school officials. Participants are provided our contact information from the referral source. Once referred, participants have 10 days to contact our office and set up a meeting by calling (719) 589-5255. If participants do not contact us within 10 days they may be sent back to the referral agency.
It typically takes a couple of months from when someone is referred to when they complete the program. We first do an intake meeting individually, and then schedule the participant (and supportive adult if under 18) for a circle, which is a group process. The circle consists of two group meetings a week apart. A major part of the circle is coming up with a set of agreements, and participants have five weeks after the circle to complete four agreements. At the end of five weeks, we have an individual closure meeting, at which point the process is complete.
Upon successful completion, we send a Certificate of Completion to the court or referring agency. Oftentimes, the referring agency will then dismiss the case, but the outcome ultimately depends on what agreement was made with the referring agency before being referred to our program.
The typical cost of the program is $150 total. However, we never want money to be a barrier for our participants. If someone is unable to pay that amount we will work with them to find out what is reasonable for them and/or provide scholarships.
Traffic
Participants can be referred from the court or directly from police officers. Participants receive our contact information from the referral source and then have 10 days to contact our office and set up a meeting by calling (719) 589-5255. If participants do not contact us within 10 days, they may be sent back to the referral agency.
It typically takes a couple of months from when someone is referred to when they complete the program. We first do an intake meeting individually, and then schedule the participant for a circle, which is a group process. A major part of the circle is coming up with a set of agreements, and participants have four weeks after the circle to complete those agreements. At the end of four weeks, we have an individual closure meeting, at which point the process is complete.
There will be a handful of youth/young adults who have gotten traffic tickets, with supportive adults present if the youth is under 18. Additionally, there will be a trained facilitator to lead the process, a community member to provide their perspective and support to participants, and a State Trooper who can provide their educational perspective from having witnessed many traffic incidents.
The typical cost of the program is $100 total. However, we never want money to be a barrier for our participants, and so if someone is unable to pay that amount, we will work with them to find out what is reasonable for them and/or provide scholarships.
Upon successful completion, we send a Certificate of Completion to the court or referring agency. Oftentimes, the judge will then dismiss the case, but the outcome ultimately depends on what agreement was made with the judge before being referred to our program.
If someone does not successfully complete their agreements, we send the case back to the referring agency (typically the courts). At that point, the outcome is out of our hands, and it is up to the court to proceed as they usually would.
If you are under 18 years old, we do require that you bring a supportive adult along to both the intake meeting and the circle. This could be a parent, family member, or other close adult, so long as they are over the age of 25.
The program focuses on identifying the impacts to self, family, and community, and then working to repair the impacts in those three areas. This means that each participant plays the central role in deciding what their own agreements will be. An agreement might include community service if it makes sense for that individual, but our program’s staff and facilitators will never specifically require community service.
This ultimately depends on what agreement was made with the judge before being referred to our program. Most often, successful completion of the Traffic Circle means that the ticket is completely dropped, and no points will be held against you on your license. However, we cannot promise that for every participant since those final decisions are made in the courtroom, not in our program.
Contact CRP
If you have questions please email info@restorativeprograms.org or call 719-589-5255.