Episode 85: In-Home Restorative Justice

Restorative justice is an approach that focuses on collaboration between the offender and the community. It requires the offender to accept responsibility for their decisions and the impact of their offenses on the victim and the community. For juvenile offenders who are involved in both the juvenile justice and child welfare systems, restorative practices often involve teaching skills to live independently and develop healthy relationships.

This episode shares how Alternative Family Services provides highly individualized supportive services to help youth as they transition out of the foster care system. The goals of the programs are to improve outcomes for youth in foster care who are involved in the juvenile justice system by placing them in homes with trained resource parents and reducing the placement of youth in detention facilities that may not have the intensive services they need.

The following individuals are featured in this episode:

• Craig Barton, chief program officer, Alternative Family Services
• Dr. Rita Williams-Washington, program director II, Alternative Family Services

Topics discussed include the following:

• The strategies to support successful collaborations across systems
• The unique needs of youth who are involved with the foster care and criminal justice systems and how to address their challenges
• How Alternative Family Services staff support resource parents, youth, and each other in order to make positive changes in the lives of youth and families