Official Website Launch! RJBC.CA

Three months ago a steering committee of community rj practitioners and advocates delivered an exciting and engaging conference for restorative justice practitioners and advocates across BC. The most resounding message from conference participants was the need for an online tool for sharing information, keeping in touch, and finding out what’s happening in rj throughout the province.

Thanks to the Department of Justice Youth Justice Fund, the conference steering committee was able to fund the development of a website to address these needs. The website is now ready to go!

www.rjbc.ca

Here you will find:

•               News and announcements, easy to search by month, keyword, or category

•               Places to share materials about training, evaluation, and other specific areas of practice, in order to follow up on the 2010 Conference outcomes

•               A calendar of upcoming events of interest to rj practitioners & advocates

•               Networking information for rj and related organizations, both locally and globally

•               Resources for issues related to practice, such as FASD, gangs, and mental health

•               An easy way to subscribe to the site so that updates come straight to your inbox

In order for this website to be useful they need your support!  Here are a few ways you can help this to be an effective communication tool for the BC rj community:

•               Do you have training, evaluation, or other practice-related materials that you are willing to share? Send them (in PDF if possible) to info@rjbc.ca and they will upload them to the site

•               Do you have resources (informative websites, partnering organizations, etc) that will help better inform the rj community about cultural competency, FASD, gangs, human rights, mental health, or working with victims? Send them to info@rjbc.ca so that they can create a thorough collection for ongoing self-guided education

•               Are you planning an upcoming event that rj practitioners or advocates might be interested in? Maybe you’ve just heard about an upcoming event that might appeal to the rj crowd. Send the details to info@rjbc.ca and they’ll add it to the calendar of events page.

•               If you have an announcement, a request, or any other message you need to get out to the rj community, send it to RJBC at info@rjbc.ca and they’ll post it on our News and Announcements page.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns about the website or its contents, please feel free to contact a volunteer through info@rjbc.ca. Also, please feel free to share this posting far and wide!

Thank you for helping to make www.rjbc.ca a success for BC RJ!

Help for the victims of crime — and the offenders

Suman and Manjit Virk’s daughter Reena was murdered in 1997. Through restorative justice, the couple was able to tell one of their daughter’s killers what he had done to them, to hear his remorse and to forgive him. Photograph by: Ian Smith, Vancouver Sun, Vancouver Sun

Restorative justice eases victims’ post-traumatic stress and reduces reoffending. Yet it remains on the fringes of the system

BY PETER MCKNIGHT, VANCOUVER SUN JULY 10, 2010

In 2006, the newly elected Conservative government announced, with much pomp and ceremony, the appointment of the first federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime. Four years later, Steve Sullivan’s role came to an unceremonious end.

Upon leaving office earlier this year, Sullivan condemned the Conservatives for failing to address victims’ needs. “The tough-on-crime agenda will not meet the needs of victims of crime,” he told Canwest News Service, while emphasizing that imposing stiffer sentences on offenders doesn’t amount to serving victims.

Crime Prevention Awards Nomination Info 2010

Each year the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General recognizes individuals, groups and programs that have made outstanding contributions to crime prevention and community safety with the Annual Solicitor General Community Safety and Crime Prevention Awards.

This year, the awards ceremony will be held during Crime Prevention Week (November 1-7th, 2010) in Surrey.  Currently, there are 10 different types of award categories (please see descriptions in nomination package).  All nominations will be reviewed and selected on the following; Commitment, Perseverance, Innovation and Contribution. The deadline for submitting a nomination is September 10th, 2010.

To nominate an individual, group, or program, please complete the attached nomination form(s) and submit it to:

Victims Services and Crime Prevention

Solicitor General Community Safety and Crime Prevention Awards

Attn: Dana Greening

#302 – 815 Hornby Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 2E6

Tel: 604 660-5199 / Toll-free: 1 866 668-2137

Fax: 604 775-2674

Go to: Crime Prevention Awards Nomination Info 2010_final

Or visit:  www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/crimeprevention/awards/index.htm to download the nomination form and submit it by email to crimeprevention@gov.bc.ca

National Report for Restorative Justice Week 2009

“Report on RJ Week 2009…check it out, BC really engaged (events, proclamations, etc)!  Great work everyone.” – Catherine Bargen, Restorative Justice Coordinator, Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, Victim Services and Crime Prevention Division

Report available at: LINK

Programs that apply true restorative justice principles should be used more often, at various stages of the criminal justice process. In addition to its benefits for victims, it holds offenders accountable in a way the justice system cannot. I encourage those in the field to continue with their good work and for the federal government to ensure that restorative justice has a strong and growing place in its corrections and conditional release agenda. - Steve Sullivan, Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime, 2009

New website: EmbraceBC

EmbraceBC

Promoting multiculturalism and eliminating racism in BC.

Through six distinct program elements, EmbraceBC seeks to inspire community members, residents and sector leaders to welcome, accept and embrace difference, on both personal and institutional levels.

Community Forum Program 2010-2011

Community Forum Program 2010-2011 accepting proposals for the Community Forum Program (CFP) 2010-2011.

For fiscal year 2010-2011, they have revised the thematic areas associated with the program to better reflect their Transformation Agenda.  For the upcoming year the themes are:

* Responding to the Diverse Needs of Offenders in the Community

* Strengthening Capacity to Support Women Offenders

* Enhancing the Role of Aboriginal Communities

* Offender Mental Health

* Current Issues Related to Public Safety

More info: Forum

Heartspeak Productions is pleased to announce their newest release

Restorative Practice in the Classroom with Moana Brown LINK (trailer 3:50 min.)

Teacher/educator Moana Brown focuses on the experiences of Maori students and their families and the effects that restorative practices has had on their ability to engage in a process that is fair, equitable and empowering. Moana shares practices that invite students to make more conscious choices and the roles that parents, teachers and the community can play in generating more possibilities in their learning community. (DVD 45 min available at http://www.heartspeakproductions.ca).    Moana Brown has been working in the field of Secondary School Education in New Zealand for the last 17 years in the areas of Health, Physical Education, Dance and Maori Language. Moana also has experience as a Deputy Principal providing a wealth of opportunities to expand her awareness of what happens in schools from many perspectives. Much of her work has been on building resiliency and capacity within schools.

And the following video is now available on DVD:

Brain Development & Addiction with Gabor Mate <http://www.heartspeakproductions.ca/>

Through a synthesis of clinical experience, cutting edge brain research and spiritual teachings, Dr.Gabor Maté provides a clear explanation of addiction and its crucial relationship to brain development in early childhood and associated environmental conditions.  Dr. Maté explains the 4 basic brain systems involved with addiction and why they are so powerful and suggests that we need to look at the conditions in the world that feed, drive and promote addiction.  (DVD 64 min. available at <http://www.heartspeakproductions.ca/> )    Gabor Maté, M.D. is the author of the bestselling books Scattered Minds, When the Body Says No, Hold On To Your Kids co-authored with Gordon Neufeld and In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts – Close Encounters With Addiction.

Remember you can favorite, share, rate and comment on Heartspeak’s youtube channel <http:www.youtube.com/heartspeak>

From Passion to Proof: the Power of Program Evaluation

From Colette Squires:

Dear RJ friends and practitioners,

After the recent RJ Provincial Conference Jana Stocker (Coordinator, Surrey Restorative Justice Program) asked me if I would be interested in providing a one-day workshop to expand on what I spoke about in my presentation on program evaluation.

Jana is very interested in developing this for her own program, and we thought it would be a great opportunity for other RJ practitioners in the Lower Mainland as well.  As you know, evaluation is an important part of assessing the effectiveness of our programs, and helps provide stakeholders and government with the assurance that our programs really work.  A flyer is attached here with more details.

Evaluation Workshop June 28

This will be a great opportunity for you to work together with other RJ practitioners to tackle this important subject, and to either begin developing your own evaluation program, or to take it to the next level of development.
Feel free to forward it to others who may be interested.

Date: Monday June 28
Time: Check-in and registration:  8:15 – 8:30 a.m.
Training runs from:  8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Location:   RCMP Guildford District Office
10395  148th Street, Surrey  (on the corner of 148th and 104th)

Lunch and refreshments are provided.

Fee: $125 for first participant from each group
$100 each for additional participants from the same group*

*Work together with members from your own team as you design what you need.

Please confirm your interest ASAP to colettesquires@shaw.ca so we can hold a spot for you.

Registrations must be confirmed prior to June 21st.

CERA Society 2010 Annual General Meeting June 15

CERA Society is holding its 2010 Annual General Meeting Tuesday, June 15, 2010 at 7:00 pm

Winslow Centre, Gallery Room 1100, Winslow Avenue, Coquitlam, BC

Registration and membership sign-up/renewal at 6:30 pm

2009 was a year of strengthening and corroboration for CERA.

Please join us as we reflect on the many achievements this past year, and
the exciting future of the Community Youth Justice and
Empowering Youth programs.

This will also be a wonderful social opportunity to connect with
CERA Board members, volunteers and other community supporters who
are committed to building Restorative Justice in our communities.

Please RSVP by June 10, 2010 to:

604.931.3165 or info@cerasociety.org <mailto:info@cerasociety.org>

CERA- communities embracing restorative action

644 Poirier Street
Coquitlam, BC  V3J 6B1
Tel:  604.931.3165
Fax: 604.931.3176
Email: info@cerasociety.org <mailto:info@cerasociety.org>
Website: www.cerasociety.org <http://www.cerasociety.org/>

Restorative Justice Week 2010: “Reflexions Past, Present and Future”

From Marion Houle, Assistant Coordinator, Church Council on Justice and Corrections:

We are pleased to introduce the theme for Restorative Justice Week 2010: “Reflexions Past, Present and Future”

From November 14th to 21st, 2010, the Church Council on Justice and Corrections (CCJC) in collaboration with Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) calls on Canada and the world to acknowledge and celebrate the impacts and achievements of Restorative Justice.

This year, Restorative Justice Week will provide an opportunity to reflect on where we have been, where we are now and where we are going.