Restorative Justice

The Estes Valley Restorative Justice Partnership (EVRJP) exists to reduce crime and disorder by applying six principles of Restorative Justice:  1) repair of harm to victims, offenders, and community, 2) reconciliation and repair of relationships, 3) reintegration into the community, 4) responsibility taken by all individuals for their part in the incident, 5) restitution to the victims, 6) respect given and received by all.  This mission is accomplished through a very unique structure that embodies the spirit of community and partnership.  The Executive Director of the organization is a Town of Estes Park employee—Community Services Manager for the Estes Park Police Department.  A portion of that position is then on loan to the EVRJP, 501c3, Board of Directors to administer the non-profit portion of the organization.  In addition, there is a part-time Case Manager for the program who works directly with clients and arranges conferences through volunteer facilitators.  There are about twenty trained volunteer facilitators and forty additional volunteers who serve as community representatives. 

The organization applies restorative principals through the administration of two programs: Community Group Conferences and Community Circles.  The Community Group Conference Model accepts referrals from the Estes Park Municipal Court, the Estes Park Police Department, and the Larimer County District Attorney’s Office.   Each case is reviewed by staff and assigned to a volunteer team who follow through to the conclusion.  The process involves two types of meetings:  pre-conferences and conferences.  The former is an individual meeting with victim and offender.  The purpose is to gather information and find out who was affected and how.  The community group conference is a face to face meeting of victim, offender, and community where the focus is the harm resulting from the crime and then the repair necessary to repair the harm.  The repair is written in contract form and turned into EVRJP.  If the offender completes the contract items then there is no criminal entry on their record.  If the offender fails to complete then the case is referred back to the originating agency.   This program started out as a juvenile program but is now being used for adult offenders as well. 

Community Circles are a slightly different form of Restorative Community Justice.  The purpose is to create partnerships that promote positive social interaction, support, and accountability for state parolees returning to the Estes community.   In some respects, it is an on-going conference where 6-8 community members sign an agreement to meet weekly with a parolee.  The meetings focus on goal setting, goal review, support, relaying experiences, and accountability for actions the prior week.  Circle members consist of community members who have a stake in this particular community and express a desire to participate in this process as well as a core member, who is an offender returning to the community following a time of detention.  All agree that the goal of the process is to increase the likelihood of offenders successfully re-entering the community and learning to lead a healthy, safe, and crime free lifestyle.  Successful accomplishment of this goal benefits offender, community, and victim.  Members have an opportunity to express expectations and address risks as well as offer assistance and support.  Offenders have the opportunity to recognize the harm their offense has caused others and to understand larger community impacts.  Victims have the opportunity to participate when appropriate and when agreed to by the circle and core member in order to address their harm and to identify any remaining repair to restore the relationship.   This last step is done only when the circle feels comfortable that the victim will not be re-victimized and only if the victim agrees that they would like this to occur.

 The Community Group Conference program has been in existence for 5 years now and the data speaks for itself.  100% of conferences have come to an agreement by the end of the conference and have formed a contract.  89% of offenders completed their contract.  80% of the offenders who have gone through the Community Group Conference process do not re-offend for the 18 months that they are monitored.  98% of participants have been satisfied or very satisfied with the process.  The Community Circles program has only been in operation for about 1.5 years.  It has seen two core members in that time and to date, neither has received any additional charges.  Both have received a GED and both are currently employed. 

To become a part of the Restorative Justice Volunteer team, or to obtain more information, Please contact Pam Vendegna or Amanda Nagl at: 970-577-3829 or E-Mail at: pvendegna@estes.org.