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2018 IIRP World Conference: Strengthening the spirit of community

Details

See presentation materials from breakout sessions.

henry and aliceHenry McClendon, Jr., IIRP Michigan Representative, with Alice Thompson, CEO of Black Family Development, Inc.The IIRP World Conference held on October 24-26 in Detroit was a triumph, our largest ever! Among the sold-out crowd were 75 Detroit residents who attended through scholarships, bringing a true spirit of community.

Their grassroots work as stewards of their neighborhoods is supported by commitment from the top. “Restorative practices will make our city safe,” Mayor Mike Duggan declared in the opening session. “Neighborhood police officers are working seamlessly with community block clubs and Detroit Public Schools,” added Todd Bettison, Deputy Chief of Police, who’s been trained in restorative practices himself. “It’s making a huge difference. Formerly challenging kids are now leaders.” 

Two school superintendents confirmed the district’s adherence to the practices. Tonya Allen, President and CEO of the Skillman Foundation, stated, “Skillman is supporting training for teachers, police, courts and neighborhood organizations.” High school sophomore and Restorative Practices Ambassador, Faith Howard, vowed, “Change starts with me!” Her schoolmate and fellow Ambassador, Jordan Cook, agreed: “I’m the one who tells kids: You can do it!”

student pic2A Detroit high school student spoke during the opening plenary. Photo by Paul EngstromThe scope of restorative practices across the city was highlighted in numerous sessions. Michigan’s Third Judicial Circuit Court, the largest in the state, is employing the practices institution-wide, with 331 of 498 staff trained to date. With buy-in from top leadership, the initiative is building strong staff connections and resolving workplace tensions and conflict. Staff are also using the practices with clients and family. “Since people who work at the court are part of the community, it will affect the whole community,” observed Benita Cheatom, Executive Director of Human Resources and Labor Relations. 

“Restorative practices is the model; Circle Keepers are the movement,” stated Derek Blackmon, Black Family Development, Inc. Project Director for Safety Initiatives. Trained to use restorative practices in homes, families, block clubs and everywhere, Circle Keepers help resolve issues all over the city. They meet monthly with hundreds of community members, joined by neighborhood police. To fight neighborhood crime, Circle Keepers led a series of “peace marches.” They’ve persuaded 300 business owners to become “green-light” establishments, with cameras that connect to the police department. “We asked them to be part of our community,” Derek explains. “They came to our meetings and became our partners.” 

participantsCommunity participantsHenry McClendon, Jr., IIRP Michigan Representative, has spearheaded restorative practices in Detroit. Closing the conference, he proclaimed, “The best way to make a movement is to courageously follow and join in. If it can happen here in Detroit, it can happen where you are. Help us become a restorative nation!”

Breakout Sessions

21st Century Values Inherent in Effective Circles
A Restorative Approach to Diversity and Inclusion
A Science of Human Dignity
Aligning and Integrating PBIS and Restorative Practices in a Large, Urban School District
An Essential Component of Justice: Documenting Stories of Violence, Murder and Execution as Restorative Practice
Baltimore City School Police Using Restorative Practices to Disrupt the School-to-Prison Pipeline
Beyond Bias Impact: Repairing Harm with Restorative Practice
Bridging "Behavior" Gaps: Strategies and Interventions for Challenging Students
Bridging the Divide: Partnership with Police
Building Excitement for Implementing Restorative Practices in a Comprehensive High School
Can Restorative Justice Affect Teens' Influences and Choice-Making?
Circles After Nathanson: The Contemporary Psychology of Affect and Emotion
Community Engagement: Our Restorative Journey
Concentric Restorative Practices Circles: A Worldwide Network of Practitioner and Researcher Work Groups
Creating a Culturally Responsive, College-Going Culture for Young Men of Color
Creating Restorative Community in Alternative School Settings
Direct Action, Direct Services and Back Again: Functional Community Organizing and Community Change
Enhancing Access to Life Opportunities for Disconnected Youth: A Trauma-Informed and Restorative Practices Approach
Essential Conversations: Black Girls' Perceptions About Education, Educators and the American Dreams
Focusing on HOPE: Winning Buy-in to Build a Restorative School Community
From a Native Indigenous Perspective: Rebuilding a Community of Men Through Traditional Restorative Circles
From Crime and Punishment to Harm and Healing
Game Changers: Inviting the Community and Student Agency into Your Classroom Through Project-Based Learning
General Session – Community and System-Wide Change
Healing a People: How Restorative Practices Can Help Repair the Harm of an Island's Dark Past
How to Answer the BIG Question in Education: Is It Working?
Leading Conflict: How to Fight at Work
Lessons from Teaching: How High School Student Restorative Practitioners Impact and Inspire
Light in the Darkness: Seeing Strengths in Your District and Building Restoratively with Them
Making Positive Connections with Conscious Discipline
Measuring and Improving Fidelity to Restorative Justice Implementation: Sharing a Comprehensive Tool
Motivational Interviewing: A Restorative Conversation for Inspiring Change, Countering Marginalization and Promoting Equity
Navigating Whiteness in the Restorative Practice Movement
New Directions for Restorative Practices: Physical Education and School Sports
Our Circles Confirm Culture Through Caring for Students of Color: Implementing Culturally Responsive Restorative Circles to Address Disproportionality in Discipline
Participatory Budgeting: When Both Numbers and People Count
Police-Community Reconciliation as a Framework to Build Trust and Increase Public Safety
Poster Sessions
Proactive Restorative Practices: Creating the Conditions for Individuals and Communities to Flourish
Problem Solving Through the Request, Reflect, Reimagine Method
"Reaching Before Teaching" and "Connecting Before Correcting": A Restorative Practices Approach
Relate, Repair, Restore: A Model for Restorative Justice in a Therapeutic Process Group
Restorative Circles: A Leadership Practice to Build School Culture Amidst School Reform Contexts
Restorative Justice Works for All Students: Results of a Michigan RJ Pilot with Students with Disabilities
Restorative Practice Responses to Student Absenteeism: An Exploration of Racial Microaggressions and Student Self-Efficacy
Restorative Practices and Community Health in Rural Communities of Nicaragua
Restorative Practices and Its Impact on Healing Communities of Color and the Justice System
Restorative Practices at Houghton Lake Community Schools
Restorative Story Mapping: An Equity Inquiry Tool Toward Designing Implementation Protocols for Restorative Practices in Schools
Restoring Our Communities, Restoring Ourselves: How We Cultivate Restorative Environments to Achieve Restorative Communities
Social-Emotional Learning, Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports, and Restorative Practices in Atlanta Public Schools
Stories of Restorative Practices in the Workplace: Experiences of the Third Circuit Court
Suspensions Down, Collaboration Up: Use of the Restorative Practices Continuum in a Center-Based EI (Emotionally Impaired) High School
Table Talk: The Power of Storytelling
The Art of Integration: Primary Care and Collaborative School-Based Mental Health Services for Student Well-Being
The Critical Role of Youth in Building Restorative Cultures in Schools
The Maya Project: How Students Can Transform Community Through Restorative Practices and the Arts
The PLAY Community: Restorative Circle Activities
The Student Voice Improvement Paradox: Spreading and Sustaining School-Based Youth Court
Third-Siders in Theory and Practice, on the Ground and Online
Transforming Our Schools from Alienating Institutions into Caring Communities Using Restorative Justice Practices
Using an Equity Lens to Assess Restorative Practice Implementation in Schools
Using Restorative Practice and Mindfulness to Build Relationships and Heal Trauma
Using Restorative Practices to Teach with Truth, Order, Balance and Reciprocity
What Is YOUR Role? A Comprehensive Study of Group Dynamics
Why the ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) Study Matters for School-Based Restorative Justice

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