Program Director: Dana Katz (845)514-0239 dkatz@fowinc.org
Assistant Program Director/Restorative Facilitator:: Maria Scarangella (845) 514-3696 mscarangella@fowinc.org
Restorative Justice is a time-tested approach to addressing student misbehavior in ways that repairs harm, unwinds conflict and restores peace in the school community. It is an alternative method of discipline that honors the relationships among members of the school community and ensures that the community remains intact by offering interventions that allow students to remain in class and active members of their school community.
RJ is a spectrum of voluntary processes which strive to include as many impacted people as possible encouraging students and faculty alike to take ownership and solve problems together. RJ strives to maintain respect, deliver equity and encourage reflection and growth through mistakes and difficult situations.
The One80 School-Based Restorative Justice Mission: To provide Restorative Justice interventions to decrease the number of youths who are suspended and dismantle the School-to-Prison Pipeline.
Overview of One80 RJ Interventions:
▢ Restorative Conversations with Skill-Building: A brief intervention of 2-4 sessions/1-3 weeks. The student and case manager will have a comprehensive discussion about the situation and their behavior/actions/choices. Student strengths and weaknesses will be identified and used to develop an agreed-upon skill-building plan unique to that student. Skills will be derived from Evidence-Based Programming i.e. Mindfulness, Dialectical-Behavioral Therapy, Social-Emotional Learning, etc.
▢ Restorative Conference: A Restorative Circle is an alternative to an out-of-school suspension or other serious disciplinary action, in an instance where a student has broken a school rule or serious harm or wrong-doing has taken place. This is a long-term (2-3 month) intervention that requires the involvement of the student, impacted school personnel and/or students. A Restorative Conference is held in which the student and impacted members of the school community have a conversation and agree on a set of actions the student will take to repair and learn from their behavior/actions/choices. The student must be willing to accept accountability for their actions, participation in this intervention is voluntary for all.
▢ Mediation: Provided by the Ulster County Capstone group: “Restorative Space” Mediations can take place any time both parties agree and feel harmed by the situation.”