A very interesting roadmap for increasing RJ use in England and Wales

I just read a report (link at the bottom of the page) from the Peter Keeling at the Criminal Justice Alliance. Really interesting ideas especially the roadmap to increasing the use of RJ:

While the Criminal Justice Alliance continues to campaign for an entitlement to RJ for victims of crime, we recognise the conclusion of the Justice Select Committee in 2016 that capacity needed to improve before this goal might be realised. The themes that shape this report are important waymarks and we have highlighted many areas across the country making substantial progress on this journey

•Busting myths and improving confidence: RJ and restorative practices are effective for an array of different stakeholders across a range of measures and the RJC’s Restorative Service Quality Mark programme has established a formal process for measuring and monitoring quality. However, awareness-raising efforts remain crucial for the foreseeable future.

•Building restorative partnerships: Some areas across the country are building strong partnerships across agencies to facilitate restorative processes. But these partnerships are not universal and issues about information-sharing, limited resources and poor knowledge of RJ can undermine their success.

•Defining and measuring success: Many RJ services are improving their understanding of the wider benefits of their work and are enhancing their ability to capture this ‘success’. This needs to be matched by better knowledge at a national level of the type of work being delivered at a local level and its positive impact.

•Taking a whole-system approach: As RJ and restorative practices continue to spread, it raises important questions about the way these practices are changing attitudes, shifting cultures and shaping more strategic approaches to fundamental questions about harm, conflict and responses to crime.

https://www.criminaljusticealliance.org/wp-content/uploads/CJAJ7063-Restorative-Justice.pdf

www.restorativ.co