Restorative Justice
Responding to Underage
Drinking/Impaired
Driving
Kris Miner
St. Croix Valley Restorative Justice

Populations:
St. Croix County 80,000
Pierce County 40,000
River Falls 13,600

Peace & Belonging
• Victims
• Offenders
• Community
xerci ses”
rative E
“Re pa

Awards/Recognition
MN TPT $105,000
APPA – Award of Excellence
Chamber Small Business 2007

“Restorative justice is a process to
involve, to the extent possible, those who
have a stake in a specific offense and to
collectively identify and address harms,
needs, and obligations, in order to heal
and put things as right as possible.”

The Restorative
Justice Movement is
grounded in values that
promote both accountability
and healing for all affected by
crime.
-Mark Umbreit, U of M Center for and
Restorative Justice Peacemaking

SCVRJP Programs
• Victim Impact Panels
• Victim-Offender Conferencing
• Victim Empathy Seminars
• Underage Consumption Panels
• Safe Teen Driving Circles
• Trainings

Using a cell phone
while driving is the
equivalent of .08 blood
alcohol content.
-Timothy Smith
Crashproof Your Kids! Make
Your Teen a Safer, Smarter

Vic t i m?
?
Acco
?
u n t ab i
lity?
?
Healin
g? O ffender?
Community?

Developing U.C.P.’s
• What RJ Process?
• Who will participate?
• Victim/Offender/Community
• What Evidence Based Program?
• B.A.S.I.C.S./CHOICES
• Partners – Courts/LE/UWRF

Developing a program
•Evaluate your community
•Work with existing
programs, engage the
community

Engaging community
@krisminer (twitter)
Kris Miner – facebook
SCVRJP – fan page facebook
Blog – Circlespace
Linked-In SlideShare TED profile

Underage C. Panels
• Registration – Pre test
• Circle Process
• Speaker
• Post test
• Evaluation
• Individual

B.R.A.D.
Be Responsible About Drinking

CHOICES
• Change Companies Resource
• Harm Reduction Model
• Alcohol’s Impact on the Body
• High BAC Risks
• Biphasic Drinking
• Strategies to reduce risk/harm
• Public Commitment

Participant Comments
“I went in thinking this was going to be
some joke I had to do it because it was
mandatory but actually it affects you
more than you might think”
“Educational, almost an essential
program for all college students”

Participant Comments
“Something I was forced to go
to but ended up coming out of it
with a different mindset on
drinking”
“Insightful and eye-opening
very well recommended”

Participant Comments
“The members who ran it and them
doing this out of the kindness of their
hearts to make sure we do not go down
the wrong path. And Jerry is a great
example of what a man who is trying to
do right by what he feels was wrong in
his life.”

Participant Comments
“we had people with first hand experience.”
“how real life all the situations we heard
are.”
“hearing stories it made everthing I thought
fake seem real”

Survey Comments ’08
• 92% say they will change some
aspect of behavior (65% definitely
& 27% maybe)
• 94% say the program will help
reduce the RISK associated with
alcohol use. (68 % definitely, 26%
maybe)

‘09 responses

‘09 responses (95%)

Effective ?
• The first 56 (Sept ’06 to Jan ’07)
• 18 months
• From 4 different courts
• Two courts had 0 re-offend
• 51 did NOT re-offend 91%
• 1 re-offense within 6 months

Why it works
• Generation Y
• Brain Development
• Public Commitment
• Community
• Novel
• Personal
• Storytellers

Storytellers
• Victim Impact Panels
• 4 phases of the story
• The power of the small detail
• Coaching your storytellers
• Reinforcing the impact

The Storytelling Process
• Promoting listening & learning
• Designed to touch the heart
• Non-judgmental
• Details make a huge impact
• Physical, emotionally, mental and
spiritually impacts
• Encourage speakers

Victim Impact Panels
• Victim/Offender/Community
Members as storytellers.
• Non-judgmental environment
Strengthen your community!

Working with Survivors
• Grief and Trauma impact everyone
differently.
• Respect the experience of another
• Remain neutral yet genuine
• Be aware of your own process

Environmental Strategies
• Urgency is understood
• Easily support objectives
• Articulate advocates
• Manifest and Latent benefits

Warning – adult content

For More Information
Kris Miner, SCVRJP
715-425-1100
scvrjp@gmail.com
www.scvrjp.org
www.circlespace.wordpress.com