WE ENVISION RESTORATIVE JUSTICE

as a relationship-building process that is responsive to needs • will create safe environments that foster dignity, humanity, respect, agency, empathy and mutual well-being • as preventative when the values of restorative justice are embraced by a community; restorative justice is not always reactionary or contingent on the existence of conflict • recognizes the capability of those most impacted by conflict, especially youth, to lead the change • as voluntary for all participants • when addressing conflict, will acknowledge, learn from and repair harm and promote healing for all • as inclusive, valuing that everyone has a story and a voice • as grounded in “power with” not “power over” • as a process focused on the community taking responsibility when harm occurs, rather than government and systematic responsibility • centered by an understanding of and a commitment to practices and contexts that are anti-oppressive, including struggles to end racism, sexism, ableism, adultism, ageism, and other forms of privilege and domination • with an understanding that interpersonal acts of violence are connected to structural violence and with the responsibility to boldly expose and address structural violence • supported by adequate institutional resources to enable creation and sustainability of positive, supportive, non-punitive environments • takes time and commitment from all community members in order to make long-standing, structural change • as focused on carrying out and living the philosophy • results in a paradigm shift in the ways in which we treat one another, but also in how we think about conflict and punishment, from a retributive to a restorative mindset