We are committed to a worldview shift that places healing and accountability at the center of our responses to harm and violence. We recognize that individuals, families, and communities experience harm, not only through another person’s actions but also as a result of criminalization and incarceration. Grounded in principles of restorative justice, we aim to shift our collective narrative about what justice can look like, from viewing crime as a violation of the law to crime as a violation of people and relationships. Through identifying the obligations that ensue from those violations, individuals and communities get to determine for themselves what it will take to make things right.
While restorative principles guide our organizational orientation, restorative practices inform the approach to our work. At Community Works, we apply different models of restorative practices, which coexist with a variety of human services. The restorative practices offered in our programs include:
