Training Sessions Offered
(Woodland, CA) – August 18, 2022 –The Yolo County District Attorney’s Restorative Justice Partnership (RJP) will hold a 12-hour volunteer panelist training, which will be held via Zoom over three days, beginning August 27, 2022. Formerly known as Neighborhood Court, RJP is the core program in the Yolo County District Attorney’s restorative justice diversion program. The RJP panelist training course is a prerequisite for service in any of the DA’s restorative programming options.
Yolo’s Restorative Justice Partnership is one of the few in the country to use restorative justice practices to resolve cases for adults facing criminal convictions. The program began as a pilot project serving first-time offenders in the City of Davis in 2013. By 2015, the program had expanded to include West Sacramento, Woodland, and other areas of Yolo County. Restorative Justice Partnership has broadened beyond the scope of its original design and has expanded its eligibility criteria, to include 10% of all felony cases, as well as offenders who may have had previous convictions.
RJP conferences are staffed by volunteers who hear and facilitate criminal cases and develop agreements, with the charged persons, aimed at providing individualized outcomes using the principles of restorative justice. This process provides a voice for members of the communities affected by crimes to express how they have been harmed and what they need in order to make things right. Program outcomes are designed to address the underlying issues affecting participants while prioritizing their acceptance of responsibility and reparation of harms to the community and any direct victims affected. These conferences function best by involving a diverse group of volunteers to represent their local communities.
During the training, volunteers will learn the basic principles of restorative justice as well as the three-step RJP conference process. Upcoming training dates are: Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022, 9:00am to 3:00pm, Thursday, Sept, 1, 2022, 4:00pm – 7:00pm & Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022, 4:00pm – 7:00pm.
Volunteers for the program are always needed. You can learn more about RJP, and sign up to become a volunteer, at: https://www.yoloda.org/nc. You may also contact RJP staff directly by e-mail at maria.olmedo@yolocounty.org or by phone at (530) 908-3726.
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