National Center on Restorative Justice (NCRJ)

See attached.

Proposal Abstract

O-BJA-2021-33002

The National Center on Restorative Justice (NCRJ) was established in 2020 through a partnership between Vermont Law School (VLS), the University of Vermont, the University of San Diego, and the Bureau of Justice Assistance. NCRJ’s broad objective is to improve criminal justice policy and practice in the United States through restorative justice education, training, and research.
 

In the short time since its inception, the NCRJ has built a successful team, convened an Advisory Council, held one Institute on restorative approaches to policing, established new Program Learning Outcomes using a restorative process for the VLS Master of Arts in Restorative Justice program, expanded RJ course offerings, hosted an international restorative justice art contest, prepared a podcast set to launch, designed research on restorative approaches in prisons, and developed a curriculum on restorative justice for a class for prison staff and incarcerated individuals. The NCRJ recently hired a Media and Communications Coordinator to expand its reach and is hiring an Assistant Director of Training.

Continuation funds will support further expansion of NCRJ’s work through cultivating additional partnerships with researchers, practitioners, and academics across the country. Specifically, continuation funding will provide:

A Training Division with broad access (including a free online course) and a national network of trainers.

The establishment of a coaching network around the US to support new restorative justice professionals.

The establishment of a Visiting Scholar program.

Funding for a collaboration with Restorative Justice Data Systems (RJDS) to develop a national web-based database for restorative justice programs.

Additional support for collaborations with the National Association of Community and Restorative Justice (NACRJ) to complete a resource guide of RJ programs nationally, and to develop best practice guidelines.

Resources to build a more robust restorative justice research community with fellows, affiliates, competitive RFPs, and an annual research meeting.

The National Center on Restorative Justice (NCORJ) was established in 2020 through a partnership between Vermont Law and Graduate School (VLGS), the University of Vermont (UVM), the University of San Diego (USD), and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). The NCORJ improves criminal justice policy and practice in the United States through supporting education, research, and training to further restorative approaches. Through supplemental funding, NCORJ will continue and expand its work in its key focus areas of restorative justice education and training and restorative justice research. These initiatives contribute to increasing capacity in the restorative justice field, building their collective ability to employ restorative approaches to reform the US criminal justice system. Key activities enabled by the supplemental funding include:

Expanding restorative justice education in higher education institutions by providing resources and hosting three convenings of restorative justice educators.
Providing restorative justice education and training for current criminal justice practitioners and community organizations including through partnerships with national organizations and free online training.
Continuing to build a coaching program to support new restorative justice practitioners.
Ensuring access to restorative justice education, particularly for those from marginalized communities.
Continuing to build the programs of the Restorative Justice Research Community.
Offering a series of competitive subawards ($500,000 total) to support community-based research partnerships in addressing pressing issues in the field.