Recommended Ethical Guidelines for Restorative Practices

Mission Statement
MRSC exists as a statewide coalition to promote restorative philosophy and quality restorative services for individuals, communities and organizations.

BELIEF STATEMENT
Restorative Justice processes offer opportunities to participants to explore options to address their needs either directly or indirectly.Ý Sensitivity, choices, confidentiality, problem solving, and self determination embody these processes.Ý This provides structure for an opportunity for grieving, healing, and/or greater understanding.

VALUE STATEMENT
Restorative Justice is a victim-centered response to crime and conflict that provides opportunities for those most directly affected-the victims, the offender (s), their families, and representatives of the community-to be directly involved in responding to the harm caused by the crime or conflict.Ý Restorative Justice is based upon values which emphasize the importance of providing opportunities for more active involvement in the process of:
Offering support and assistance to victims
Holding offenders directly accountable to the people and communities they have violated
Restoring the emotional and material losses of victims (to the degree possible)
Providing a range of opportunities for dialogue and problem-solving among interested victims, offenders, families, and other support persons
Offering offenders opportunities for competency development and reintegration into productive community life
Strengthening public safety through community building
Mark S. Umbreit, Ph.D.

DEFINITIONS
Victim/offender processes bring together the victim of a crime and their offender directly or indirectly in a safe environment. A trained facilitator guides the process. Support people and community members may participate. For the purposes of this document the terms victim and offender are intended to be inclusive of schools and communities, where there is no defined victim, or where there have been people who have been harmed meeting with those who have caused harm or are perceived to have caused harm.

Facilitators, mediators, keepers, or stewards: Act in an unbiased, nonjudgmental manner.Ý This person(s) will function in a manner consistent with the Restorative Justice principals and values, sets the initial tone of the process and encourages participants to develop the outcome.
Victims: Those primarily or secondarily affected by a crime or an incident.
Offenders: Those responsible for causing, doing, or participating in a crime or incident; or those who are perceived to have done harm.
Community Participants: Includes, but is not limited to: victims, offenders, family, friends, neighbors, community residents, businesses, advocates, clergy, schools, law enforcement, counselors, courts, mentors, etc.
Crime/incident: Any harm done whether it can be charged as a violation of the law or not.
This process is always voluntary for victims and offenders have a choice.

PURPOSES
The purposes of these processes are:
To actively involve victims, offenders, and other community participants, as appropriate, in an effort to repair the emotional and material harm caused by crime.
To provide opportunities for the victim and the offender to discuss the offense, seek answers to their questions, express feelings, and move toward restoration and healing to the extent possible.
To provide opportunities for the victim and the offender to develop a mutually acceptable plan that addresses the harm caused by the crime.
To build community understanding through collaboration to create safer and healthier communities.

TRAINING AND EDUCATION
Facilitators, mediators, keepers, or stewards of Restorative Justice processes (paid or volunteer) are encouraged to have experiential, comprehensive training with topics to include, but not limited to:
Victim sensitivity
Offender awareness
Valuing diversity
Criminal justice system
Communication and listening skills
Community resources: partnership and collaboration (connecting and working with)
Working with community and support people
Confidentiality, exchange of information, and mandated reporting
Restorative justice principles, values, and history
Self and peer evaluation
Facilitation skills: group maintenance
MRSC strongly encourages continuing education and skills building.

THE PROCESS
The restorative process should allow for the following:
Meeting with all participants (if possible) before the meeting and reviewing the process to be used with them
Offering alternatives to face to face meetings
Careful assessment of all cases for appropriateness
Careful consideration of the victims, offenders, and other participants ability and willingness to participate in any restorative processes
Efforts to provide a safe forum for dialogue (may require meeting special needs)
Allow for non-coercive interactions between participants
Neutral facilitator, mediator, keeper, or steward
Relaxed positive atmosphere/attitude
Primary focus on dialogue rather than settlement
Guidelines for appropriate behavior for participants
Feedback from participants
Discussing the option(s) of a follow-up session(s)
Program evaluation (qualitative) Restorative Justice meetings shall follow all mandated reporting guidelines.
Facilitators have an obligation to remove themselves from any cases where biases or previous relationships may adversely affect the process.
MRSC does not judge or determine what constitutes a good program.
MRSC strongly discourages inappropriate relationships (defined as any personal or intimate relationship) between facilitators, mediators, keepers, or stewards and persons representing the process with participants during the course of the process.Ý
MRSC intends this document as a best practices guideline only, for Restorative Justice programs.Ý This is an evolving process.