Already, 2008 has been a busy year for the Brattleboro Community Justice Center (CJC). Above and beyond our normal list of community services, we have seen: the expansion of our core programs through community volunteer recruitment, legislator education efforts for the secure future of our center, new public education and coordination efforts, and efforts to reestablish our Citizens’ Advisory Board to help explore our future course through community input.
On the programming front we have seen our Restorative Reentry program grow by nearly ten community volunteers, and are in the process of growing our Community Advisory Panels to further the goals of holding people returning from prison to Brattleboro to high community standards. The Reparative Probation program has seen our partnerships with Brattleboro Probation and Parole as well as the local State’s Attorney office strengthened as we explore ways to further involve the community in repairing the damage done by non-violent offenders. We look forward to offering a Reparative Probation training in mid March for new volunteers who are interested in supporting both victims and offenders in the Restorative process, and who are willing to represent the community in sharing about the harm crime creates.
As funding for certain CJC programs gets closer and closer to the June cut off date, CJC directors throughout the state are looking at creative budgeting solutions and educating our government officials to regarding how we save the Department of Corrections much more money than we operate on, as well as to demonstrate how we are able to work with individual offenders to repair the harm their crime may have caused to victims and the community. We are working to let both our federal and state legislators know how important our work is for community safety. If you would like to contact your senator or representative on our behalf, please let us know!
We have had excellent public education opportunities so far this year. We were quite pleased to offer the Returning Prisoner Simulation for the first time in St. Albans in January. This simulation recreates the typical first month for people returning from prison, and often leaves the participants questioning how any reentrant can succeed with so many barriers stacked against them. Through a partnership with the Montpelier Justice Center, we were able to offer training to 25 community members on the Difficult Conversations curriculum to help people more effectively deal with conflict. The Justice Center is also spearheading a Reentry Roundtable Discussion effort to explore how direct service agencies can work together to connect returning individuals, their family members, and victims to necessary services.
We continue to seek input and direction from the community in helping to affirm our direction and purpose in order to be a true Community Justice Center. The Citizens' Advisory Board (CAB) works closely with the Director in setting goals and helping interpret community needs in all areas of community justice. Feel free to explore our website to learn more about this great opportunity.
For more information on any of these exciting developments, please visit our website at www.brattleborocjc.org. or give us a call at 802-251-8144.