Restorative Practices Conferences

Restorative conferences are formal circles used as an intervention when a major offense among a community has occurred. In a conference the offender(s) and the victim(s) along with other members of the community sit with a facilitator. The idea is to provide all participants with an opportunity to address the issue in a safe environment. All voices are heard and, with the help of the facilitator, the community creates a plan intended to make the offender(s) accountable as well as healing the caused harm. Usually the facilitator will need to conduct individual conversations with the offender(s) and the victim(s) prior to the conference. In this training, participants will learn the elements of a conference, their applications, how to facilitate them, and how to perform the pre-conference work. Note that participants must be proficient at facilitating circles to be able to facilitate conferences.