Community Conferencing
History of Community Conferencing
Community Conferencing has developed from what is called Family Group Conferencing in Australia. Family Group Conferencing is rooted in the Maori culture in New Zealand, where other parts of the world, the indigenous population is over represented in the court and prison system. The original concept directly involves the offender's family in the process of holding the offender accountable, in teaching individual responsibility and to address the harm. The original model, which has been adapted to Community Conferencing, not only includes the involvement of family but those in the larger community who have been affected by the conflict. In Canada this model has been adapted to include not only the notion of family involvement but also the participation of both the offender's and the victim's supporters who may or may not be family.
Currently in Community Conferencing
ACTS has a partnership with Alberta Justice, the Solicitor's General Office and the Edmonton Police Service called the Tri-Partied agreement. This is a 3 year pilot project which is focusing on providing training and Community Conferencing within the police, and courts/justice system. This pilot project is an exciting adventure to work with government organizations in building community capacity to bring a restorative justice approach towards addressing crime.
ACTS continues to partner with the Edmonton Public School Board in offering Community Conferencing for students who possibly face an expulsion or suspension or there has been repeated concerns about behavior and conflict. A new project which ACTS is participating in is offering workshops on how to developing a Restorative Justice approach within their school.
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Community Conferencing: a Review of Restorative Practices, March 2008
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ACTS Deliverables for RJ Pilot Project, April 2008
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What is Community Conferencing?
- Taking Responsibility
- A Community Conference is a meeting between a community of people affected by a conflict, a dispute, or an act of violence or crime. The community conference provides a forum in which person/s that have caused harm, takes responsibility for their actions with the person/s that has been harmed. Supporters for both parties attend as well.
- Understanding the Impact
- A community conference gives individuals the opportunity, in a circle process, to explain how they have been affected by what has happened. It allows the victim(s) to have a say about their experience. It also gives those that have caused harm an opportunity to understand the broader impact of their actions on other people, on themselves, and on the community.
- Repair the Harm
- A Community Conferencing circle gives the opportunity to repair the harm done by a conflict, crime or wrongdoing and to minimize the likelihood of future harm. All participants will contribute to any agreements reached to repair the harm. It is an opportunity for victims to say what it is that they need for their healing journey. It is also an opportunity for offenders to say what they can offer to repair the harm caused. In the case of a pre-sentencing court file the agreement may go to court only as a suggestion to the judge.
ACTS are leaders in the community in working closely with the Alberta Justice system to respect both the legal and restorative justice process. Their goals in recognizing the trauma of a crime is to assist community members to be heard, to move on from the affects of a wrongdoing and to repair the harm caused to the community. The Community conference process respects the needs and timing of the victims to be a part of this process, at the same time assisting supporters and the offender through skilled preparation to participate, creating a safe environment for all.
ACTS also works closely with the Edmonton Public School Board to ensure youth, as students, their families and teachers, learn a restorative approach through Community Conferencing and conflict resolution, which can better our future leaders and community.
How do you participate in a Community Conference?
A Community Conference is referred from within the Edmonton Public School Board (school conflicts, expulsions or suspensions), contact with a crime, (Edmonton Police Service), the courts, (Alberta Justice) or community dispute (organization).
What are the criteria for a community conference?
There are 3 main criteria that ACTS uses in assess whether an incident is right for a community conference. These are:
- Person(s) causing harm accept responsibility for their actions.
- There is voluntary participation by all participants.
- There will be no further foreseeable harm occurring as a result of the community conference.
What types of Community Conferences (files) does ACTS participate in?
ACTS has led school files from mischief to assaults. The school files often involve many offenders and often more than one victim. ACTS has participated in many school files involving bullying behavior. This pervasive behavior can undermine the success for many students. However with a Community Conference process often those insensitive to how they are impacting others can provide great leadership and even fellowship under the right agreements and direction.
ACTS also has a partnership with Edmonton Police Service (EPS), Alberta Justice and the Solicitor General's Office. Files referred from the court can be officer discretion, pre plea, post-plea, pre-sentencing or post-conviction. ACTS has participated in youth files, homicides, assaults, and theft.
What is a Facilitator and what do they do?
A Facilitator at ACTS is a professional, trained in the Community Conferencing process and has successfully completed other Community Conference files. A Facilitator will also have experience in conflict resolution, crime prevention, restorative justice, social work and or mediation.
The Facilitator assesses the suitability of the Community Conference and provides a safe process by:
Assessing the suitability based on all criteria and factors as well as ensuring those who have caused harm have accepted responsibility for their actions.
Prepares the participants for community conferencing by going through the process in detail and answers any questions.
Coordinates the Community Conference circle process through asking specific questions of all participants.
Sets up timelines and arranges a venue for the conference.
How do you start?
In a Community Conferencing session, participants sit in a circle and share their thoughts and feelings by discussing the incident, its aftermath and what can be done to achieve reparation and justice.
Who participates?
- Facilitator.
- Person(s) harmed & supporter(s).
- Person(s) causing harm & supporter(s).
- Other key people who were directly or indirectly affected by the incident.
What is the Process?
The facilitator asks specific questions of all participants in order to facilitate a clear understanding of the impact of the incident.
First Stage - Telling of the story
The person(s) who caused harm accepts responsibility, and describes what they did.
Second Stage - Impact of Conflict
Participants express how they have been affected by what has happened.
Final Stage - Deciding how to repair the harm - Integration
They determine together how the harm should be repaired. A written agreement is developed with clear arrangements for follow-up. The solutions are meaningful to those directly impacted by the situation.
Contact Sue at 944-5265 for further information.
Testimonials?
I (the victim's mother) was in trouble as a young teenager, and watched my friends go through the Courts and that had not made any difference to them. I wish there had been something like this (Community Conferencing) when I was young. I also am happy I have met with the offender's mother, because we will probably be seeing each other at the school again and I am glad the issue was resolved. I also have empathy for the offender's mother at how challenging it is to be a single parent.
I (school principal) am ecstatic that we were able to bring the whole group together to find a resolution. I can see the courage of the students that were harmed and how difficult it is to face people that harm us. I really appreciate the offenders for their honesty.
I (offender's supporter) appreciate being able to participate in the process. I see the students taking responsibility in correcting this matter.
I (parent of the student) see the process as a good experience because it "puts things on the table" for everyone involved in hearing about the problem.
All participants stated that they felt the process had been beneficial. They left with a feeling of optimism, having identified clear problems in the student's life and now having a support structure and a plan of action about how to address those problems.
I (principal of school) feel the student successfully completed the agreement and has not been back to the office due to conflict since the community conference date.
I (the victim's father) felt the process was excellent.
I (school principal) received a hand made card from the victim and his mother, which said the student will be remaining at the same school and they thanked me again for the opportunity to participate in the community conference process.
Contact Sue at 944-5265 for further information.
Training
What is involved?
Become a trained facilitator (or learn more about how to deal with conflict) by participating in a 3-day training program in Community Conferencing an alternative dispute resolution, restorative justice process. It is designed to teach the skills necessary to deal with conflict in a new way.
For centuries many cultures around the world have used processes similar to Community Conferencing. When one or more members of a community experience conflict or harm is inflicted, the matter was addressed by a meeting in a respectful environment of the community's members. Aborigines1 around the world and now many other people interested in restorative justice continue to use a version of this process today. In many ways, Community Conferencing is a rediscovery of this traditional restorative justice method.
How will it benefit you and your organization?
Community Conferencing is a process where all the people involved, have an opportunity to be heard and for those responsible for creating harm, and conflict, to take responsibility. Through a face-to-face meeting with those involved and their supporters, the person(s) harmed have a direct say on how the harm can be repaired.
Community Conferencing facilitates the reintegration of all participants back into the relationship, workplace or community. It can be used in the workplace, home, schools, and justice system for a variety of conflicts.