Oct 19 – Monthly Meeting – Restorative Community Conferencing

This month’s meeting introduces a ground-breaking program that leads the nation in cost-effective, alternative solutions to provide justice to victims harmed by crime. It is a model to  improve the current outmoded, ineffective, costly punitive criminal justice system.

A restorative community conference (RCC) is a face-to-face, problem-solving meeting between people who have been harmed by a crime, the people who caused the harm, and community members.

Led by trained and experienced community facilitators, the people in the RCC discuss the harm and ways to repair it as much as possible.

In the meeting, the persons responsible for the harm are held accountable for their crime. Together the group creates a plan to repair the harm. Once the responsible person fulfills the plan in a timely manner, charges are dismissed.

BENEFITS TO THE PERSON HARMED:

• Satisfaction of explaining the impact of the crime

• Opportunity to have questions answered

• Input on how the person who caused harm can make things as right as possible

• Access to community resources

• Support from the community

BENEFITS TO THE PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR THE HARM:

• Opportunity to take responsibility

• Creative plan to make things as right as possible for everyone

• Charges dismissed when plan is complete

• Access to community resources

• Support from the community

BENEFITS TO THE COMMUNITY:

• Contribute to the safety and well-being of the community

• Opportunity to teach and support the person who caused harm to successfully repair the harm

• Build community strength through relationships and knowledge

Ramla Sahid will talk about the Restorative Community Conferencing program in City Heights, a pre-adjudication diversion program for high-level misdemeanors and low-level felonies.

Ramla is the Executive Director of The Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans (PANA) and Treasurer of the Democratic Woman’s Club.

The program is a collaborative agreement between the National Conflict Resolution Center (NCRC), the residents of City Heights, Mid City CAN and the Juvenile Justice System stakeholders including Probation, District Attorney and the Public Defender. The pilot project is funded by the California Endowment with support from local grants and fees from other NCRC divisions.

NCRC contracts with the San Diego Unified School District to provide RCC as an alternative to suspensions and expulsions, and supports school campuses across the district with preventative restorative practices. 

Main photo credit: speakcityheights.org

WhenMonday October 19, 7pm – Social Time from 6:30pm

Social TimeMembers are encouraged to get together from 6:30pm before the meeting starts.Please bring whatever light drinks/snacks that you’d like to share.

WhereAjA Project Building, 4089 Fairmount Ave, San Diego, CA 92105 (map)

The meeting is at 4089 Fairmount Ave, San Diego, CA 92105 co-located with the AjA Project, and parking is also available at the adjoining Southern Sudanese and East African Community Centers on Fairmount Ave.

Questions?Call or email (619) 900-4751  [email protected]

The Center on Policy Initiatives (CPI) will also make a presentation to the club to ask for our endorsement on their proposal for a minimum wage increase for San Diego.

CPI is a nonprofit research and action Institute dedicated to advancing economic equity for working people and diverse communities. Founded in 1997, CPI has played a unique role in the San Diego region, providing the analysis, policy solutions, education, leadership development, and coalition building that advance social and economic justice.