Contra Costa County Neighborhood Restorative Partnerships Expansion and Enhancement

The Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office respectfully requests will expand their successful pre-charge adult diversion Neighborhood Restorative Partnerships (NRP) program to include panels and participants in the greater Richmond area in West County and the Antioch-Pittsburgh area in East County, Pennsylvania. Requested funding will fill two new part-time positions, support expanded efforts by existing employees that are experts in community courts, produce outreach materials for recruitment of panelists, and support additional training opportunities for staff.

The project is requesting Category 2: Enhancement funding over the 48-month grant performance period for this pre-adjudication community court program. The project goals include making at least 150 referrals to the newly expanded NRP locations and graduating at least 20 participants that complete their obligation plans during the project performance period. There will also be a minimum of eight new panelists that complete their training and up to 40 new panelists. With participants and panelists combined, it is expected that the NRP expansion will serve at least 158 people and at most 340 people. The arrestees participating in the pre-charge diversion program are expected to be engaged a minimum of three months, a maximum of 36 months, and an average of ten months. Panelists are likely to participate from their date of recruitment through the rest of the project performance period with an average of three years of participation.

The District Attorney's office is applying for priority consideration 1A by improving equitable access to restorative community courts in greater Richmond, Antioch, and Pittsburgh, which are historically disadvantaged communities that face disproportionately high crime rates. Racial disparities appear to be driven by the burdens on the area. New community courts will give the cities more power and support to restore harms perpetrated on them and improve their own quality of life. The District Attorney’s Office will build on their successes in operating NRPs to align with the principles of community justice particularly enhanced information, community engagement, collaboration, individualized justice, accountability, and outcomes.