We envision a network of communities in and around Seattle that embrace conflict as an opportunity for healing and learning and as a call to build relationships, cultivate trust, empower collective action and engage in transformative change. Our mission is to foster parallel Restorative Justice systems and practices in harmony with existing structures and as alternatives or supports to punitive ju
stice and discipline. We seek to end the school to prison pipeline and promote healing and accountability wherever harm is done. Collaboratively, we are cultivating an emerging network of communities, organizations, and justice systems employing a continuum and range of Restorative Practices. We are building capacity to engage in Restorative Practices by facilitators who come from and reflect the diversity of their communities. The range of Restorative Practices in the network include: Restorative Circles, Peacemaking Circles, Talking Circles, Non Violent Communication, Compassionate Listening, mediation, traditional practices, Positive Discipline and others. Other collaborative partners in growing the Restorative Justice network and co-sponsors of the Barter learning events include: No New Jim Crow, Compassionate Seattle, Rauschenbusch Center of Church Council of Greater Seattle, Center for Ethical Leadership, King County Dispute Resolution Center (DRC), The Compassionate Listening Project, Northwest Compassionate Communication, City of Seattle's City Attorney's Office, Seattle Parks and Recreation, Seattle's Restorative Justice Initiative, Garfield High School and its RJ Student Alliance, King County and its Office of Performance, Strategy and Budget, Juvenile Court, and Office of Alternative Dispute Resolution, Seattle University, Washington Peace Team, Freedom Project, and others. We sponsor workshops, practice sessions, and facilitator development training to communities interested in learning about Restorative Justice and Restorative Circles. A Restorative Circle is a community process for supporting those in conflict that brings all parties together– those who have acted, those directly impacted and the wider community - to dialogue as equals. Participants invite each other and attend voluntarily. Restorative Circles are facilitated in 3 stages designed to identity the key factors in the conflict, reach agreements on next steps, and evaluate the results. Within the circle, all voices are heard and power is shared, to engender mutual understanding, self-responsibility and effective action. The process ends when actions have been found that bring mutual benefit. Restorative Circles are a specific restorative practice whose development began with the work of Dominic Barter in Rio de Janeiro in the mid 1990s and continues with a growing community both in Brazil and internationally. We invite individuals, families, schools, organizations, community groups, neighborhoods, and government departments join our movement. For more info visit: http://www.restorativecircles.org
or watch this 3-minute video from the University of Rochester: http://tinyurl.com/o4rlkqg
