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Kandiyohi County Circles
PACT for Families Collaborative
- The Kandiyohi County Restorative Justice Circle program is hosted by PACT for Families Collaborative.
- Our program runs under the direction of a steering committee made up of local judges, representatives from the county attorney’s office, public defender’s office, community corrections, Prairie Lakes Youth Programs, local law enforcement, local business owners and community volunteers.
- The steering committee began meeting about Restorative Justice in 1999. The first Circle was held in 2000.
- Our Circles have two purposes. 1) Sentencing Circles are an alternative approach to the traditional court process where the offender admits his/her crime, learns to understand the impact the crime has had on the victim and the community, and works to correct the harm. 2) Transition Circles assist youth who have been placed out of the home to return successfully to the community and refrain from further crime. For both types of Circles, volunteers from the community work with the offender and the offender’s family to establish and monitor the goals necessary for the youth to be successful.
- Currently we evaluate the success of our program by tracking the re-offense rate of our participants for two years. We also conduct surveys internally to evaluate the impact of Circle on each participant as they leave the program. These surveys reflect the degree to which participating youth have improved their relationships within the family, the community, and have successfully redirected their lives and developed a focus on the future. They also measure the extent to which participants feel they have been treated fairly and respectfully within Circle.
- The goal of the circle is to build relationships which will allow the child to stay in the home, school, and community or will return the child to the community as quickly as possible. The circle recommends and coordinates services to youth, victims, and families based on the needs discovered through the circle process. The youth are supported by his/her community to make long-term behavioral changes in order to avoid or minimize out of home placement, reduce re-offenses, and to give closure to their victims.
- Community volunteers are an essential part of the Circle process. The Kandiyohi County Circles need more volunteers who are willing to be part of this important endeavor.
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