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Family Group Conferencing
Family conferencing provides an alternative to formal involvement in the juvenile justice system and the correctional system. It is a diversionary program for youth who engage in minor criminal behavior for the first time and uses community-based supports to prevent recidivism. Family conferencing involves a process that includes a meeting among the youth's family, the police, school officials, the victim, and other community members to respond to and address the youth's misconduct and criminal behavior. The victim, community members, and the youth's family each discuss the impact of the youth's offense, including sharing the youth's emotions surrounding the harm that he or she caused. The conferencing also addresses opportunities for the youth to make amends to those aggrieved and develops a plan to prevent the youth from reoffending.
Description
Initiated in New Zealand and Australia, family conferencing was introduced to the United States during the 1990s. It focuses on a discussion that supports both the victim and the young offender. The conference is facilitated by a professional case manager, independent of all parties. Both the victim and the offender may invite people to the conference as supports or representatives. Since family conferencing tends to operate under the restorative justice model, the focus of the discussion emphasizes victim-offender dialogue in order to restore the damages to the victim and address the specific offense the youth committed. All parties speak, one at a time, about their personal experiences and reactions. During this discussion, a clear distinction is made between the youth as a person and the youth's criminal behavior. Discussion of restitution is initiated by the parties through the facilitator. A written agreement among the conferencing participants, based on what the victim wants and the youth's response, is the last component of family conferencing. Thus, the purpose of family conferencing is to develop specific plans that address the issues leading toward the youth's involvement in illicit activity and set corrective behavioral goals for the youth to help the youth understand the impact of his or her behavior. Some proponents of family conferencing argue that this process teaches youths a sense of right and wrong by exposing them to the various perspectives of the conference participants.
Family conferencing encourages active participation by the community in order to prevent recidivism by the youth and in general promote the safety of the community. Family conferencing involves voluntary participation by the other parties: victim, offender, and families. The youth and the family may be offered the opportunity to engage in family conferencing as a diversion from the formal juvenile justice system, but the youth has the right to refuse participation. The victim may also refuse participation. The youth would then enter the juvenile justice system and risk entering some type of correctional program (such as residential placement or drug treatment) if adjudicated.
Benefits
Youths hear the direct impact of their behavior on the victim and community and are given the opportunity to recognize, acknowledge, and admit guilt for the offense. This discussion may help the youth to develop a better understanding of the broader impact of his or her behavior, and increase accountability for that behavior. Proponents of family conferencing claim that youth participation in these discussions is critical to preventing recidivism.
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- Actuarial Risk Assessment
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