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Montpelier
Community
Justice Center~Main Page
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Note: As of January 2006, the Capital Community Justice Center (CCJC) has changed its name to the
Montpelier Community Justice Center (MCJC).
WHO WE ARE
The Montpelier Community Justice Center (MCJC) was established in 2003 with the following mission:
To ensure that the people it serves have the resources they
need to resolve conflicts and promote problem solving in creative ways
that encourage feelings of fairness, safety, and inclusion.
The work of the Montpelier Community Justice Center (MCJC) is to create and promote opportunities for learning about, developing skills in, and participating in restorative justice programs and other problem solving processes for the people it serves, defined as those who live, work, conduct business, commit crimes, or play in Montpelier and its allied communities. MCJC assistance may include consulting, advising, educating, referring, convening, advocating for, and/or delivering conflict management, dispute resolution, and restorative justice programs in response to actual or potential conflicts and wrongdoings in the community.
The MCJC Citizen Advisory Board, staff, and volunteers recognize the value of and potential for each citizen to contribute to the civility and well being of the community. The MCJC provides services that support people in attaining the ideal of a just community where every person is asked to take active responsibility for actions that harm or rebuild and to make choices that avoid infringing upon another person's basic human rights. For those people who have been affected by another's choice to do harm, the MCJC offers conflict resolution options that recognize and honor the emotional consequences and accompanying needs for restoration.
The MCJC has a responsibility for building a community of people concerned about justice who have the skills necessary to contribute in practical and unique ways to the advancement of core democratic ideals such as all voices being heard and treated with equal respect. MCJC initiatives support individuals, families, and the community in making important decisions about issues that affect their lives where professionals facilitate rather than impose and where government's role is assumed to be one of doing things with the people it represents rather than to them or for them.
HOW WE'RE ORGANIZED
The MCJC, while originated as a grass roots, citizen-based organization, operates
under the auspices of the City of Montpelier in order to meet eligibility requirements
for the funding it receives through a grant provided by the Agency of Human Services.
The MCJC is housed in City Hall. The City of Montpelier employs an Executive Director,
Yvonne Byrd, who assumes day to day responsibility for operating the MCJC within
the parameters set by an agreement between the Citizen Advisory Board, the City
of Montpelier, and the Agency of Human Services. The MCJC employs a program coordinator,
Karen Blazer, who administers Justice F.Y.I. and the Reparative Boards
and assists with other MCJC activities.
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Citizen Advisory Board
Members
June Bascom, Chair
Marina Back
Paul Coates
Jane Edwards
Barbara Floersch
Allie Francis
John Gorczyk
Mary Hooper
Doug Hoyt
Richard Jenney
Evan Meenan
Joanne Pereira
Steve Reynes
Glenn Sturgis
Connie Weems
Elizabeth Wigren
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A municipal/community partnership for the MCJC is guaranteed by giving responsibility
to citizen volunteers for sharing in the governing of the center and delivering
many of the services, and by the Agency of Human Services and the City, who provide support
necessary to enable citizen volunteers to take on that responsibility.
WHAT WE DO
Currently, the MCJC operates programs that serve the community in five main ways, as outlined and described below.
Adjudicated Offender Programs
- Reparative Boards - A group of citizen volunteers meets with
people sentenced by the court to Reparative Probation. Victims and other
affected parties are invited and welcomed into the process to participate
at a level that they choose. Those responsible for offenses are expected to engage in a dialogue
with the Board and the affected parties who attend the meeting in order
to understand and acknowledge their wrongdoing and its effect on others
and the community; to collaboratively develop a plan
to make amends and to engage in activities that lessen the likelihood
of repeating the offensive behavior. Currently there are two Reparative
Boards in Montpelier with ten Board members and four meetings per month.
- Offender Re-entry & Graduated Sanctions - The MCJC will be developing
a community based approach to planning for and supporting successful
re-entry into the community for those people from the area who have
been incarcerated and who are returning to live in our community.
Direct Referral Programs
- Pre-charge police referrals - For certain low level disturbances,
neighborhood disputes, and municipal violations, the police may refer
those involved directly to the MCJC for a restorative justice process.
Those who do not successfully complete the process are referred back
to the police where the case is handled within the criminal justice
system.
- Justice F.Y.I. (Restorative Responses For Young Individuals) - This
pre-charge program is designed to keep young people age 17 and under who commit
low level offenses out of the youth or criminal justice systems. Police officers
refer those who commit low level offenses to the MCJC. The MCJC, utilizing
trained volunteer service providers, arranges a process for bringing the young
person who has committed an offense together with victims and other affected
parties, including immediate and extended family members, friends, school
personnel, etc. The person who has committed the offense learns about the
effects on others and collaborates in designing a plan for making amends.
The MCJC, in addition to providing a restorative justice response, screens
for and arranges needed services to support healthy choices in the future.
Justice F.Y.I. is supported by the Children and Family Council for Prevention
Programs, through the Agency of Human Services with funding from the Office
of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and it relies on its partnership
with the Youth Service Bureau, the Montpelier Police Department and the area
schools for its success.
Programs To Support Those Affected By Crime
- The MCJC is committed to provide support to people who are affected by crime and is currently engaged in a process to determine an appropriate program.
Non Criminal Conflict Management and Dispute Resolution Programs
- Ad hoc responses to conflict in the community - The MCJC will
intervene in conflict that is of a public or community nature. The MCJC
receives referrals, identifies an appropriate process, serves as convener,
and either supplies or helps parties locate a suitable dispute resolution
provider.
- Targeted programming - The MCJC has held preliminary conversations
with the principals of Montpelier Middle School, Montpelier High School and
U-32 to explore possibilities for providing conflict resolution services for
school based issues, such as those between home and school. The MCJC has identified
as one of its priorities this year to pursue conversations with school administrators,
staff, and parent groups to determine how it might best serve the school community.
Community Forums and Educational Programs
- Community education about restorative & community justice -
The MCJC is in the process of planning and developing ways to build
community understanding of what it means to use a restorative justice
approach in responding to criminal behavior. It also hopes to engage
the community in resolving conflict by balancing the interests of those
on all sides of an issue while attending to the basic needs of all parties
for fairness, safety, and inclusion.
- Organization of public forums - The MCJC offers its services to manage
potential or actual public conflicts by designing processes to disseminate
accurate, unbiased information and by offering neutral facilitation
of structured dialogue. For example, in December, the MCJC held a forum
attended by approximately 50 people to talk about the issue of whether
it is appropriate for City Hall to be decorated with Christmas symbols.
- Conflict resolution skills development - The MCJC is busy training
and supervising volunteer service providers in knowledge, skills, and
attitudes appropriate to conferencing, mediation, and reparative board
processes. In the future, the MCJC is likely to provide workshops for
general or targeted audiences in conflict management and dispute resolution
techniques.
OUR GREATEST ASSET
The MCJC relies on trained volunteers to provide most of the services offered by the MCJC. Volunteers serve on the Citizen Advisory Board, various committees, and Reparative Boards and as conference facilitators, mediators, victim liaisons, etc. Volunteers receive training and ongoing support and supervision while providing a valuable service to the people of our community.
SCHEDULE OF REPARATIVE BOARD MEETINGS IN MONTPELIER
meetings are open to the public
Mondays, 5:30-7:30 pm
Conference Room
City Hall, 39 Main Street
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Tuesday, 5:30-7:30 pm
Conference Room
City Hall, 39 Main Street
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Thursday, 8:15-10:15 am
Bethany Church
115 Main Street
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Jan 22 |
| Feb 5 |
Feb 26 |
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Mar 19 |
| Apr 2 |
Apr 16 |
| May 7 |
May 21 |
| Jun 4 |
Jun 18 |
| Jul 2 |
Jul 16 |
| Aug 6 |
Aug 20 |
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Sep 24 |
| Oct 1 |
Oct 15 |
| Nov 5 |
Nov 19 |
| Dec 3 |
Dec 17 |
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Jan 23 |
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Feb 27 |
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Mar 27 |
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Apr 24 |
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May 22 |
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Jun 26 |
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Jul 24 |
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Aug 28 |
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Sep 25 |
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Oct 23 |
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Nov 27 |
| Dec 11 |
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| Jan 4 |
Jan 18 |
| Feb 1 |
Feb 15 |
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Mar 15 |
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Apr 19 |
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May 17 |
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Jun 21 |
| Jul 5 |
Jul 19 |
| Aug 2 |
Aug 16 |
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Sep 20 |
| Oct 4 |
Oct 18 |
| Nov 1 |
Nov 15 |
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Dec 20 |
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Please contact Judy Gibson at 223-9606 if you plan to attend a meeting, as times are subject to change.
Contacts
Updated March 14, 2007 |
