By Tracy Fugere
Fargo, ND – It's Restorative Justice Week. And Program Director Brenda Bushaw says Lutheran Social Services of North Dakota wants to spread the word about how the program is impacting communities across the state.
Bushaw says it's an effort to address juvenile crime in a different way. She says the program strictly works with juveniles and the point is to have them be accountable for what they did and find out what harm was done. Bushaw says they have a face-to-face meeting between the victims of the crime and the offenders of the crime.
(n-rest-1 :52 ..."with this process also.")
Bushaw says all parties take part in creating a plan that tries to repair the harm caused by the crime. Options include community service, personal service to the victim, financial restitution or anything else the parties can agree on.
(n-rest-1a :30 ..."written up in the agreement.")
To learn more about restorative justice conferences and the need for volunteers in local restorative justice efforts--call Brenda Bushaw at Lutheran Social Services at 701-271-3241.