Juvenile Court Restorative Justice Diversion

Juvenile Court Restorative Justice Diversion’s (JCRJD) mission is to keep at-risk youth in school and out of court by offering a Restorative Justice program designed to empower impacted parties, heal communities and address the underlying causes of conflict. JCRJD was established in Massachusetts in 2012 and granted 501(c)(3) status in July 2013. JCRJD consists of 3 main components: (1) the diversion of first-time juvenile offenders out of the juvenile court system and into our community-based restorative justice (RJ) program; (2) our Youth Facilitator role for the training and employment of formally court-involved youth to serve as a peer voice for first time offenders; and (3) our training program for community partners. JCRJD trained 1,463 police officers in the last nine months from three different counties about RJ practices and how to flag cases for referral to JCRJD.