BARJ in Illinois - Cook County

Austin Peace Center
c/o K. Lynn Morton, Brunson Elementary Specialty School
932 N. Central Ave.
Chicago, IL 60651
Mailing Address
c/o Community Organizing and Family Issues (COFI)
954 W. Washington Box 42, Chicago, IL 60607

Phone: (312)226-5141
Email: cofi@cofionline.org

www.cofionline.org

Contact: Karen Lynn Morton

What RJ practice/s do you use?
Peace Circles and Family Group Conferencing.

Specific services offered:
-Peace Circles
-Family Group Conferencing
-Weekly after-school program for referred children that lasts from 10 weeks to a full semester
-One-on-one mentoring with community peacemakers
-Leadership development and goal setting

What population do you serve?
-9-14 year olds in the Austin community are referred through families and teachers

How/where do you get referrals?
-Parents, teachers, or the school office refer children at risk of being suspended.  Parents must sign an agreement that they will be supportive of the process and participate in the intake, administration of program, and the graduation.

Does your process, program or activity show equal concern for victims, offenders and the community of those affected?
-Yes.  Austin Peace Center brings the kids and teachers together for a peace circle or involves the family in a family group conference.

Does the process, program or activity encourage the offender to feel accountable for his conduct, and be willing to repair the harm caused to the victim and the community of those affected, in a way that focuses on the competency development of the offender?
-Yes.  Kids come with parents or grandparents who help talk them through what has happened and the conflicts the kids are involved in that led to the referral.  The Austin Peace Center uses circles in similar situations if it is necessary to bring together the family, kids and, teachers

Does the process, program or activity provide opportunities for dialogue, direct and/or indirect, between all of the community of those affected, including the victim and offender?
-Yes.  The Austin Peace Center provides peace circles, family group conferencing, and gives presentations on restorative justice at larger events, like peace festivals.  There is also a graduation event for those children who have successfully completed the program to talk about what they learned from the program.

Does the process, program or activity encourage collaboration to restore and develop positive relationships among the members of the community of those affected, including the victim and the offender?
-Yes.  Through the dialogue and RJ tools, the teachers have a different experience with the students they have referred instead of suspending.  The students come back and want to repair harm.  It has changed some teachers’ understanding of discipline options and has changed the classroom atmosphere.

Does the process, program or activity empower the community of those affected to increase its capacity to recognize and respond to harm and crime in a restorative justice way?
-Yes.  As a result, teachers are bringing circles into the classroom.  In one sixth-grade class, the class was out of control and the teacher was struggling with the students.  The Austin Peace Center brought the teachers and students together to talk about what they were feeling and work on solutions together.

In what ways are you evaluating your program?
-The primary tools are reports from teachers and parents about changes they have seen in the children.  The teachers are required to report once a week while a student is in the program about changes in attitude, attendance, and academics.  The records show an improvement in academics.