Restorative Justice Facilitator
Job Details
Restorative Justice Facilitators will be compensated $100 per case or have the option to donate their time.
Duties and Responsibilities
- Follow procedures and script outlined in the training manual and training sessions.
- Maintain confidentiality of the person who was harmed, the person who caused harm, and the court and police records.
- Maintain impartiality and establish ground rules throughout the process.
- Facilitate pre-conference and conference meetings with person who was harmed and people who caused harm toward a positive resolution whenever possible.
- Assist participants in developing and approving a mutually acceptable agreement (contract), in writing, as part of completion of the Restorative Justice process.
- Complete all necessary paperwork accurately, completely, and in a timely manner.
- Give necessary feedback regarding meetings to staff, especially if there is a concern or problem.
- Accept cases regularly and complete within required timelines.
Qualifications
- Complete background check prior to facilitator training (please note outcome does not automatically determine eligibility)
- Ability to assume responsibility, honor commitments, and conduct meetings as scheduled.
- Ability to communicate with people who caused harm and person who was harmed and understand their perspectives and concerns.
- Ability to maintain openness to different cultures and beliefs and work with individuals of different identities and backgrounds.
- Ability to identify and separate your personal values from issues under consideration.
- Ability to communicate in a courteous and professional manner.
- Ability to maintain impartiality when people are in conflict and project a calm presence.
- Ability to work independently and within departmental and program policies and procedures.
- Ability to keep conference focus on the incident and its impact rather than on the character or worth of the person who caused harm.
- Ability to explore complex and sometimes contradictory factual and emotional information.
- Ability to be persistent in a process that may require multiple contacts over an extended period.
- Ability to understand power imbalances and how to recognize the unique circumstances regarding power imbalances between people who were harmed and people who caused harm.
- Ability to show respect for all participants and willingness to address bias, both your own and when present within the group.
Facilitators and Co-Facilitators
All cases will have two facilitators assigned to them. New facilitators will always be placed with a more experienced facilitator until they feel comfortable with all areas of facilitation. The benefits of this include:
- Increased safety
- Another person to listen and perhaps hear things that you missed
- Someone to share the workload
- Another viewpoint on how to approach a case
- Balancing skills and strengths
- Sharing feedback after meetings
Legal Issues
- Handling of police reports
- Confidentiality of statements made by participants to facilitators
- Mandatory reporting
- Protection against facilitators being sued
- Protection against the program being sued for any damages that might result from the person who caused harm doing reparative service