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I Community Roger Lynn,Executive Director Q Stephanie Haider,Director of Volunteer Services f t (D 14444 Daggett Pine Road Crossiake,Minnesota 56442 Lakes Area Restorative Justice July 28, 2006 The Honorable Cathy Malcha s vim awpwwn Mayor of Pequot Lakes crepe J*VWn,TMaWW 4638 County Road 11 Pequot Lakes, Minnesota 56472 D WmLaOidw Dear Mayor Malcha: DWnatndemw Lfty,�„ I am writing on behalf of the Lakes Area Restorative Justice Project to request that .b►., , $2,000 be included in your 2007 budget for our project. We are a juvenile Derrd Paft diversion project that has worked with your police department since our S►mRuckk beginning in the fall of 2005. In that time we have handled nine cases referred by Janyonw. the Pequot Lakes Police Department that involved twelve juveniles. Robyn Saudw Our project brings the community, youth who have caused harm, and their &UW1B victims together to repair the damage and return the youth to a valued place in the community. When juvenile offenders are referred to our project, we meet with them, their families, their victims, and the victim's families to discuss what happened, how the damage can be repaired, and how the restorative justice process works. We then have a conference with all the participants. In the conference, the incident is discussed, the victims ask questions and talk about how they have been affected, and the families talk about how they have been impacted. The youth who have caused the harm talk about why they did what they did, what the consequences have been, and answer the victim's questions. The conference is concluded with a discussion of how the youth can repair the damage and how they can be supported in making better decisions. Out of this discussion, contracts with the youth are written that usually are to be fulfilled in three months. If the contracts are completed, the cases are concluded. If it is not, they are sent back to the referring agency. Since our beginning in September of 2005, we have worked with fifty-two youth who have caused harm. Seventeen have completed their contracts, one youth failed to complete her contract and was referred to juvenile court, and one moved out of the county. The rest are in the process of fulfilling their contracts. One youth re-offended while in the program and had another conference. (We are still working with him.) Another youth re-offended and has not been referred to the project. The other 50 youth have not re-offended at this date. In the evaluations filled out by participants (victim and offender), over ninety percent were satisfied with the process, felt they were treated fairly, and would recommend it others over going to court. At our current rate of referrals, we expect to receive at least 84 juvenile referrals per year.