JOB POSTING IS EXPIRED
Volunteer Restorative Strategies Facilitator

Job Overview

About Restorative Strategies

The Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque's Restorative Strategies initiative is an alternative to the juvenile justice system that helps set Dubuque County teens on a path to becoming productive citizens and finding future success.

With a focus on middle and high school-age youth, Restorative Strategies is a collaboration among civic institutions, service providers and volunteers that addresses accountability for rule-breaking, reparation, reconciliation and, ultimately, reintegration with the community.

Relationships are the core of Restorative Strategies. By providing a chance for youth responsible for committing harm to meet face-to-face with those impacted, the program fosters conversations and opportunities for youth to learn from their actions.

The Volunteer Facilitator's Role

When police are called regarding a youth, a report is generated and sent to the Dubuque County Juvenile Court Services for intake. Juvenile Court Services determines if a case meets requirements for the restorative process and makes a referral if it does.

Once a case is referred, all parties meet to explain and discuss the process and invite them to a conference known as a restorative circle. The conference is a specific process, with defined protocol, that brings together those who have caused harm through their wrongdoings with those they have directly harmed.

During the conference, all parties discuss the harm, its impact and strategies for repairing it. Everyone then comes to an agreement for reparation, and youth receive follow-up support to help complete it.

Each restorative conference is facilitated by a trained volunteer from the community, who guides the conversation and helps all parties reach an agreement on ways to repair the harm done.

Training for Volunteer Facilitators

Training: August 18 and 19, 2023
Time: 8:30 am – 5:00 pm
Where: St Luke Methodist Church
Cost: Free, Lunch included

Qualifications

• 21 years of age
• Experience with youth (preferred but not required)
• Basic computer skills (Microsoft Word)
• Basic police background check

Benefits

• $50 Stipend per case
• Impact change in the trajectory of youth’s life and keep them out of the criminal justice system
• Positive impact in the community

Trainer

Ted Lewis is a restorative justice practitioner, trainer and consultant for the Center for Restorative Justice & Peacemaking, University of Minnesota Duluth. Since the mid-90s, he has been active in the fields of restorative justice and conflict resolution as a facilitator, program manager, trainer, writer and adjunct professor, specializing in the conference model of dialogue. He also serves on the board for the National Association for Community and Restorative Justice (NACRJ). In 2016, Ted founded the Restorative Church project which promotes congregational practices of peacemaking.

This 2-day training will introduce the basic principles of restorative justice that apply to dialogue processes for responsible and impacted parties in the aftermath of a crime. Interactive learning segments and role playing will allow participants to practice a blended model that incorporates elements of a circle process into a standard conference process where people are invited to have direct and responsive dialogue with each other. Emphasis is on good preparation to build up trust before parties come together, and also on a non-directive style of facilitation in joint meetings where facilitators get out of the way of empowered, heart-felt, party-to-party conversation.

Upon completion of the training participants will be prepared to conduct restorative practices with youth and their families.