#theafternoonshift

afternoon shift is now on tumblr real not fake

In a SCY Blog Post in January, we discussed the initiation and the consequences of zero tolerance policies, as well as the growing trend toward restorative practices in schools and in juvenile justice atmospheres. For convincing evidence-based reasons, the movement has continued to grow, and continues to attract more attention and more supporters. Last week, Dr. Sandra Pavelka, Director of Institute of Youth and Justice Studies in Florida and previous Project Administrator of the Balanced and Restorative Justice (BARJ) Project funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, US Department of Justice, highlighted Longmont, Colorado in a Huff Post CRIME article as one of the United States’ most accomplished and impressive juvenile justice systems. The Restorative Justice Pilot Project, a self-funded, four-county wide project recently passed into law in Longmont and managed by the Longmont Community Justice Project, pairs up trained adult and youth facilitators with schools and the local Longmont Police Department, who came to see restorative justice as a very positive movement in the right direction. The statistical impact of this program speaks for itself: the recidivism rate as of January 2014 was at 8 percent, compared to a 60-70 percent local and national average for systems not employing restorative justice processes. Moreover, the community is actively engaging in the programs and recently received federal funding to support the continued success in keeping recidivism stunningly low, with a Longmont Justice Council that comprises of non-criminal justice employees and citizen representatives. Huff Post explains that Colorado's new law provides pre-sentencing alternatives for youth that highlight key principles of accountability, community safety, and reparation. According to these principles, the youth agrees to make right the harm, victim and perpetrator needs are honored and addressed, and the harm is repaired from its onset rather than isolating damage from the resources that may relieve the original cause of pain. Locally, Chicago has become increasingly invested in transforming our school discipline approach from a zero-tolerance system that threatens stunting youth potential to a restorative system that keeps youth in school and heals harmed communities rather than isolating traumatized individuals. A number of community partners stand out as leaders in the insurgence of restorative justice, including the Embrace Restorative Practices Collaborative with community partners including SCY, Chicago Public Schools, The Mansfield Institute for Social Justice and Transformation at Roosevelt University, Alternatives, Inc., Community Renewal Society, Adler School of Professional Psychology, Austin Peace Center, COFI/POWER-PAC, Community Justice for Youth Institute, Illinois Balanced and Restorative Justice (IBARJ), Juvenile Justice and Child Protection Resource Section of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Nehemiah Project, Umoja, and a variety of individuals in the field committed to helping Chicago to become more restorative. Embrace RP recently designed a concept paper describing restorative practices to be included in Chicago Public Schools’ Suspension Guidelines that will be distributed to 170 CPS principals and offered to potential Restorative Practices Coaches in order to renovate the disciplinary culture in Chicago. Next, this collaborative will organize a large scale event to raise awareness of restorative practices and to provide information regarding how these practices can be best applied in school environments. An element of this awareness, education, and training event will encompass illustrating best practices. CNN’s new original series Chicagoland employs a similar tactic by illuminating Principal Liz Dozier’s integration of restorative practices at Fenger High School. Fenger speaks to the statistics shown in Colorado: in just four years, student misconducts have dropped more than 60 percent. Elena Quintana, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Institute of Public Safety & Social Justice (IPSSJ) at the Adler School of Professional Psychology, explained during a discussion on restorative justice on WBEZ-FM 91.5 The Afternoon Shift the impact of numerous organizations that have collaborated with Ms. Dozier to help the school, including culture and climate specialists like Robert Spicer, who joined the radio conversation and was also featured on the first episode of Chicagoland. Spicer believes, according to his recent Next City article, that the sharp philosophical shift at Fenger contributes substantially to Fenger’s success. Such a model can then be applied to achieve the potential success and safety of other schools across the city and across the country. Furthermore, political trends in Illinois exemplify the swaying trend toward restorative practices being encouraged as a more effective and cost-efficient means of preventing violence and repairing harm. House bill 4655 and Senate bill 3004, for example, would make progressive adjustments to student discipline policies in schools, aspiring to suspend and expel students less, and incorporate more of a holistic manner of discipline inside the school facility. Both bills were voted out of committee and are awaiting vote in the full chamber. On the national level, there is actively growing momentum behind the Youth PROMISE Act (H.R. 1318 Prison Reduction through Opportunities, Mentoring, Intervention, Support, and Education) boasting bipartisan sponsorship from Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA). The legislation would fund programs focused on prevention and diversionary systems that address the school-to-prison pipeline by employing a robust approach to the multifold and ongoing issues that plague our schools and communities. Restorative justice programs and practices that are already showing promising results will be funded more fully, as well as other violence prevention programs and premeditated approaches to ceasing the cycles of violence and recidivism. Needless to say, treating our traumatized youth with traumatic disciplinary practices is ineffective. We would save more money and heal more youth, enabling them to reach their highest potential, if we are able to successfully transition from a culture of zero tolerance to a culture of restoration. The statistics collected surrounding restorative practices highlight that it benefits all of society to implement restorative practices. It is exciting to be a part of this movement to bring these practices to a wider range of communities and organizations. We look forward to seeing the continued drops in violence and recidivism, and are excited to support our Chicago partners who will continue to pave the way.