The Out-Reach Project: Restorative Justice in Action Within Families and Communities

In the United States, someone is arrested every 20 seconds for drug law offenses. This breaks down to approximately $600 per second. These numbers are astonishing to say the least! (Drugsense.org) These numbers shows proof that there is a serious problem facing our country and our youth today. It is this very reason, for which I have designed a program to educate and work toward restoring the misdeeds done by the offender against their community, family and friends.

My essay discusses the problem of drug addiction in juveniles, as in how it can ruin lives and how it can be corrected to divert the first time offender onto a better path. My project is called the Out-Reach Project. My project is an intervention program which utilizes intervention, mediation and of course counseling for the victims, offenders and the community members involved and impacted by those around them who use drugs. I did not want to make it specific to one drug because there are so many types of drugs which are utilized in today's society. Although my program primarily focuses on juveniles who are first time offenders, I wanted the program to be open to anyone who has been impacted by the use of drugs, whether it was themselves or those around them.

I will be discussing the impact of drugs in the community and how the community can become involved in helping first time juvenile offenders understand the repercussions of drug use. The second aspect I will be discussing will be how juvenile offenders who are caught using drugs can be part of the restorative justice process or in essence education about the long term effects upon themselves and those around them. The essay will also entail how the Out-Reach Project will help juvenile offenders to improve their choices and teach them how to take accountability for their actions. Last, I will discuss the impact caused by the juveniles upon the victims and those involved in the lives of those who have been caught using illegal drugs. This will not be community members. This will deal with family members and friends who are directly involved in the lives of the at risk juvenile offender.

What is the Out-Reach Project?

The Out-Reach Project is not a new idea; it's built upon restorative principles. The project would rely primarily on court referrals but would also accept private referrals. The biggest asset to the project is the community and its reliance on volunteers. One of the primary concerns for the project to give back to the community is the focus on the relationships between people and correcting the harm that has been done because of drug use. Through the use of volunteers from the community and trained staff out project will be available to educate the community about how drugs impact everyone involved. This program offers a service that would also be a great way to avoid incarceration. Ideally the Out-Reach Project will be seen as a safe environment to encourage healing and to provide information to the community.

So you may be wondering how drug use truly impacts the families, friends and even the community in which these individuals live. I will tell you, it can be a deep impact on the families/friends and communities.. The children do not always have the best role models to teach them what the correct path is. Unfortunately, many times they become a product of their environment.

How does the Out-Reach Project help the community?

The Out-Reach Project strives to focus on the members of the community. They cater to a primarily juvenile population but welcome anyone who has become involved with drugs. One of the main goals of the project is to provide understanding to the community about drug abuse and its negative impact on society and the lives of loved ones. This can be through a walk-in basis, as in community members wanting more information about the impact of drugs. The center would have volunteers who would be available to discuss this with the public in a general sense and provide pamphlets with information. The project would be there to work with families to provide understanding about accountability. It would also work towards building unity with in the local community in order to take steps towards preventing community deterioration.

The other night as I watched the news, I heard a statistic that blew me away. I heard the news reporter say that approximately half of all high school students have tried drugs, mainly marijuana. Being a parent myself, I know that my kids too will one day face this very dilemma of using drugs. It really scares me because I have seen first hand what drugs can do, and how they can destroy lives. I too have been afflicted by the downward spiral of drugs in more than one aspect. I was an addict in my teen years into my early twenties. I also lost some of my friends which inspired me to create a process which would be used to help others turn their lives around. I feel that because I am a living example, it was my turn to restore the harm I committed by turning my life around. I have restored the wrong by working to help others, not just with drugs but in many other ways.

I know that for me, drugs were what people did when they wanted to hang out and have a good time. Some of the people in my family did drugs, and at times they even did the drugs with me, and my friends. Looking back, this action on the part of my family member condoned my behavior and choices. I was still considered a child as a teenager and I feel that if I had been given better guidance, I might have never touched drugs. My opinion has of course changed now as an adult, because I like to believe that now as an adult, I am accountable for my actions. I can also choose to be a role model for my children especially in this aspect of their lives.

I felt that in order to better understand this process I needed to do some legwork. I wanted to find out why some kids do drugs and some don't. With the limited time I had to complete this project, I spoke with my fellow co-workers and even some neighbors and their teenagers. I wanted to know why some kids feel that they must fit in, or be cool and do drugs while some kids make smart choices and stay away from drugs. There seemed to be a consensus from the parents that knowing your child is imperative to preventing them from doing drugs. The teenagers that I spoke with felt that it was cool to do drug, and that there is a lot of pressure on them to do the drugs to fit in. This means being their parent, not their friend as some of the parents put it. The parents I spoke with had children ranging from ages 5-16. Yet, it seemed that all of their answers were similar in context. They said that you have the right to search the child's room, and know where they will be at all times, and to even listen in on conversations if you suspect that they are hiding something. These parents aren't part of the Gestapo; they are just concerned that their children could be caught up in something that could kill them. In this situation if you were suspicious of your child, what lengths would you go to?

How does this help the client?

The Project will provide several opportunities for the client to live up to their accountability. By offering opportunities for accountability, the clients will be responsible for ways to restore the harm which they have caused. The idea behind promoting the idea of restorative justice will produce productive citizens and transform the shame into pride which may be able to enrich the client's lives in a positive manner.

How does it help victims?

Through the project, the victims will be offered a chance to be heard with the hope that the healing process can take place. Victims will be empowered by the process because they will be able to play a key role in the decision making process as community members. This means that they will be able to give input in victim offender panels and discussion groups. Their opinions will matter significantly.

What is the role of the State?

The role of the State is important in this program. The State will be responsible for finding new alternatives to incarceration and of course ways to save money. The lesser cost of these types of community programs is significant compared to the cost of incarceration. It also expects accountability from the clients and at the same time offers a second chance.

After all there is substantial evidence to support the conclusion that parents who ignore or are less involved in their children's lives run a higher risk of their children being in trouble or involved with drugs and drinking at an early age. This is even more of a reality for parents who themselves are involved in drugs and drinking. (Nurco, 1999).

My background in criminal justice has given me the opportunity to see many angles and of course many theories which seem to be designed only to destruct the previous one. By this I simply mean that for those who believe in the free will theory that there are several other theories which believe that we are all part of something larger than we understand and that our lives in some way are actually predestined. This I why in my opinion the criminal justice is failing, it is so full of theories and trying to disprove each way of thinking that no real work is being done. This is the largest reason why restorative justice makes sense. It is simple; the offender needs to restore the wrong they have caused. The theme of accountability is what restorative justice is about, not punishment as in the criminal justice system. For restorative justice the terms are easy enough to understand it's the work that is difficult.

For me, I can empathize how children can find themselves in trouble without the proper adult supervision. Growing up in a single parent family without my father was a serious reality check.. Unfortunately, this left just me and my younger sister responsible to supervise ourselves. I found that it was no problem at all to find trouble nearby. There was no one telling me that I couldn't run around as I pleased at 10 years old. This of course led me to trying other things like shoplifting, fighting and later in life trying drugs and having children at a young age out of wed-lock. I am not blaming my troubles on my parents because they neglected to care, I am just merely stating that guidance at the age of 10 and up would have been beneficial. I did not know my father until I was 14 years old. He had been incarcerated for most of my life, and he is incarcerated at this point in time in Canyon City. I suppose that I could have taken a very different path in life and chosen to do nothing with my life, after all it sounds like I was on the right path to do just that, nothing. Instead, I took accountability for my actions and have moved forward to do something great.

Accountability is the backbone for my project, to teach young offenders that they are not what they are a product of. That they too can move forward and do great things with their lives. In order to achieve accountability, the juvenile must be willing to admit that there is a problem. They must be willing to restore the wrong that they have committed in their families and communities. This is what my program will teach these young juveniles.

The local community can be impacted by the destruction on the part of the youth who is not supervised. It can also open doors for poor choices and bad opportunities. Depending on the neighborhood, the youth may be subject to drug dealers and other poor role models within the community.

My Out-Reach Project will provide a safe environment for these juveniles to learn how to become productive and accountable citizens in society.The Out-Reach Project is a center which will be offered as a diversion to those juveniles who are first time offenders to teach them how to get back on track. The first step is being referred to the Out-Reach Project. This can occur through the courts, community involvement or family/friend referral. The next step is for the juvenile who has been found using drugs to go through an intake process. This will include learning about their background, and what brought them to us. They must also be willing participants in the process.

Once the intake has been completed, the interviewer will explain how it works and what their role will be in the process. Since, most of the cases we will handle will be court referrals the juvenile will already have agreed to participate in the process as a part of their probation or diversion program. The consent of the juvenile is an integral part of the process, because if they do not cooperate accountability will never be realized and restorative justice will not occur. So it is very important that the juvenile agrees to participate by their own free will.

In the Out-Reach Program it would be mandatory that the juvenile reads or is read and signs the accountability waiver. This document would state that they have chosen to be there, whether through a diversion program or referral of another sort, that we have not forced them to be there. It will also state that they take accountability for their own actions while they are at the center and working towards a rehabilitative state, and correcting the misdeeds that they have inflicted upon the community, and their family and friends. They will also agree that they will make a solid effort in becoming a constructive citizen. They will also be provided with numerous opportunities to transform their shame resulting from the situation and turn it into a restorative opportunity.

The Out-Reach Project is a stringent program that will strive towards restorative justice against those who have been harmed due to illegal drugs. The Out-Reach Program is an out patient program which is funded by the State and private donations.

The requirements of the program depending upon the courts and probation officer may vary. There may be mandatory drug screening required. The juveniles will be required to perform volunteer service for the center. This could be anything from mowing the lawn to sweeping the walk. They may also participate in large events in the community such as tree- plantings and litter clean up. They will also be required to participate in groups which will have guest speakers who have either had bad experiences with drugs and turned their lives around or have been severely impacted by the use of drugs themselves, or by a family member or friend. Once the juvenile has completed the program, they will be required to speak at one of the groups and discuss what they have learned and how it has changed their life, if at all. Those juveniles who have made significant progress will be given the opportunity to volunteer and work with other juveniles.

There will be some cases which will require mediation and even interventions to bring the juvenile into the program. These more difficult cases will be handled by experienced mediators. Most of the people who work for the Out-Reach Project are volunteers. There are of course some paid employees but most are volunteers who want to serve their community.

In my essay I discussed the impact of drugs in the community. I also discussed how the Out-Reach Project can be an educational and restorative tool for those involved with drug use. The final point was to discuss the impact of drug use on families and friends close to the offender, and the direct impact upon them.

My essay dealt specifically with those who used drugs, but not limited to any specific type of drug. I focused on the use of intervention and mediation to education and benefit those involved in the process of the Out-Reach Project.