Community Toolkit for a Youth Restorative Justice Project.

Source: (2003) Youth Services Bureau of Ottawa, Canada.

The purpose of this toolkit is to describe, in plain language, how to plan for, deliver, and evaluate a youth restorative justice program in your community. The material in this toolkit may be freely copied by people involved in restorative justice work. Your ‘community’ might be a school, neighbourhood, an ethnic group, or church congregation. Depending upon your needs, the focus might be solely on criminal behaviour. However, many harmful behaviours are not against the law. Therefore, your most pressing need might be to resolve interpersonal conflicts between tenants or students. Or, your neighbourhood may be experiencing racial conflict. Our intent is to provide a generic framework which is applicable to any youth setting. You do not need to get new funding to run this project, although a small budget will make tasks easier. Many of the resources and supports discussed in this toolkit are available at no cost. The breadth and strength of your partnerships is key. Good partners are able to bring resources to the project from their own organizations. Other partners volunteer their time and link you up with needed neighbourhood supports. (excerpt)