Restorative Group Conferencing

A restorative group conference is a face-to-face encounter between a victim or victims, the offender(s), individuals who support each of them, and others who have been affected by the incident.

Led by a trained facilitator, this encounter seeks to identify, repair and prevent harm, based in restorative justice values including meaningful accountability.

Participation of the victim is completely voluntary. Participation of the offender is based upon their willingness and readiness.

Restorative group conferences are incident-based, initiated in response to a crime or a dispute, and behavior-based, making a clear distinction between the harmful act and the actor.

Conferences focus on empowering the participants, looking at underlying causes and making referrals. Decisions are consensus-based and end in an agreement with which all participants can live.

Conferences are appropriate for use with adults or juveniles, and can be used at any point in the justice system process or at any point in a person’s life.

Typical Steps in the Process:

1. Initial contact with each offender to assess their willingness and appropriateness to participate and to give them information with which to decide about participating. Typically, this is two steps, such as a phone call followed by a face-to-face visit by the facilitators with the offender and their support person(s).

2. Initial contact with each victim to determine their willingness to participate and to give them information with which to decide about participating. Typically, this is two steps, such as a phone call followed by a face-to-face visit with the victim and their support person(s).

3. Identification, recruitment, and preparation of other supporters for each of the primary participants.

4. Identification, recruitment, and preparation of others who have a stake in the incident.

5. Conducting the conference itself, including potentially helping participants to come to an agreement if appropriate.

6. Appropriate follow up. For some, this will involve monitoring the progress toward the completion of the agreement. For others, completing documentation for the host or referral agency. For still other, reporting to the court or another legal entity.