The goal of the Restoring Connecticut Project is to strengthen the state’s network of restorative practices and make support more easily accessible to youth and families by creating a collaborative network of restorative justice practice providers. The end result of this three-year project will be an interactive online database where resources are available to every community, school, and home to offer alternative responses to addressing challenging youth behavior.
Restorative practices, gaining traction across the country as a best practice in addressing problematic youth behavior, are used as a diversionary tactic to help youths avoid future conflict. Considered a more therapeutic response that could help address the root causes of problematic behavior, restorative practices, research shows, divert youth from the justice system and reduce recidivism in juvenile offenders.
In addition to the extensive collaboration in the community, the TYJI is collaborating with the University of New Haven’s electrical & computer engineering and computer science departments. They will be developing the database to collect statewide information on restorative programming and local practitioners. You can read a full article by the University of New Haven HERE.
