Restorative Justice Initiative (NYC)

We're less than a month away from our next Citywide Roundtable on Restorative Practices! 🥳 Meet us in person at The Riverside Church in Manhattan on Saturday, November 16th from 9:30 AM - 4:00 PM ET for a day-long exploration of restorative justice circles, panel discussions, and more! We are deeply grateful to our community partners and to all of you for your continued support of this gathering! If you haven't already done so, be sure to RSVP today: www.bit.ly/6th-Roundtable Photo by Neha Guatam from our 5th Citywide Roundtable in Queens

"...Blake was provided a “restorative contract,” which contained these three elements: accountability, repair and support. Blake left the MYJP hearing with an understanding of how their negative decision impacted the community and with something in hand to use to grow as a citizen in the community." https://lnkd.in/eB3MnfNF

Last month, the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF) and Access Health NYC released "Collective Healing: Mental Health For The Community, By The Community," a policy brief focused on how policymakers and government officials can support collective healing, a non-traditional form of mental health care that includes options like youth mental health workshops, culturally responsive wellness programs, and linguistically accessible social groups for seniors. The brief goes into detail about what collective healing has brought to the communities they've built relationships, having a noticeable impact in immigrant communities. Read the brief here: https://lnkd.in/e4f3B3Sv

Calling all interfaith leaders! The Interfaith Center of New York has a great opportunity coming up. ICLA fellows are diverse clergy members, lay leaders, and faith-based activists working to improve the lives of New Yorkers. In a series of evening workshops, they build relationships across faith lines while learning effective strategies for community leadership, organizing, and advocacy. They then use these skills to create community projects that contribute to the civic life of New York. The fellowship starts on November 12th and runs until Spring 2025, with a hybrid model of in-person and virtual sessions. Each fellow receives $500 in grant funding for their community project, as well as a $500 personal stipend to honor their commitment to the program. RJI will participate in some of the evening workshops as well! If this sounds like a great opportunity for you or someone you know, be sure to apply by this Friday, October 25th! https://lnkd.in/df7suWg

We're less than a month away from our next Citywide Roundtable on Restorative Practices! Meet us in person at The Riverside Church in Manhattan on Saturday, November 16th from 9:30 AM - 4:00 PM ET for a day-long exploration of restorative justice circles, panel discussions, and more! We are deeply grateful to our community partners and to all of you for your continued support of this gathering! If you haven't already done so, be sure to RSVP on our website! https://lnkd.in/dc56kjbQ

"...Nothing about restorative justice skips over deep reflection. It does not skirt around sitting with the impact of harm and how it has rippled out. It does not shy away from identifying who holds disproportionate responsibility for exacerbating, enabling, or ending harm. It does not work when people are in denial, will not apologize, will not change their behavior, will not commit to a lifelong process of unlearning, and will not make amends, should harmed parties want that. But because RJ lacks the carceral features of retributive justice—banishment, ridicule, and stigmatization through policing, prisons, child protective services, vigilantism, etc.—many underestimate it." https://lnkd.in/d5ax2T76

Coming up soon! We hope to see you there.

Violence Intervention Program is seeking a Restorative Justice Facilitator! Is it you or someone you know? Check out the opportunity on their website: https://lnkd.in/eQZcpw6D

NEW! We've launched an online directory of schools doing RJ work across New York City! We hope that in doing this, we are building greater availability and transparency around where RJ work is happening in schools, creating a way for schools to be able to connect and share best practices with one another, and hosting an index that organizing spaces can use to be able to get the word out about meaningful and restorative platforms and events. From schools with established trainings, to ones seeking deeper support, this directory has something for everyone. View the directory here: www.bit.ly/RJ-Directory Nominate a school here: www.bit.ly/Submit-A-School

Join Spring Up this Friday, October 18th from 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM ET for the next session in their Fall webinar series! Focusing on how to cultivate your harm response skillset, this webinar will share tangible skills and strategies to respond to harm non-punitively including de-escalation and right-sized consequences to harm. Register on their website: https://lnkd.in/exrVQAPV