Give to the Max Day

Today is Give to the Max Day! You can donate online at your convenience: https://www.givemn.org/organization/Washington-County-Community-Circles.

2023 is a year newsletter of rejuvenation for WCCC. We have had a resurgence in cases in all of our communities and have restarted meeting with clients regularly in person. It has been great to return to the experiences that make this organization thrive. We appreciate all of our partners who have continued to refer us cases through challenging times and our supporters who have continued to enable our work through in-kind donations. We have had the opportunity to conduct training this summer for Tubman who has remained a strong advocate of WCCC and our mission. We are returning to our fundraising efforts this year to increase our community reach and build on our client experience. However, we also encourage giving to our partner Tubman, or other Washington County community organizations, or restorative justice organizations in support of the work we are passionate about around the state.

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Volunteer Connectivity Event Success!

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Thank you to all of the board members, community members, and volunteers who participated in our first virtual Volunteer Connectivity Event on Thursday, December 10! It was reinvigorating to see each other, from different communities and some new introductions and connections made.

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The event was organized to provide an opportunity for connection for WCCC volunteers and community members, and to learn about the technology that will be used for virtual Circles this winter (Microsoft Teams). The group discussed what has made us feel connected and feel the value of Spirituality during the pandemic, and what we are hopeful for in the coming year. We also did our fair share of troubleshooting and saying “you’re still muted” or “I think you need to mute” as you do on these virtual meetings. :)

We hope to do this again and see more volunteers, community members and to include our stakeholders!

COVID-19 Protocols

Our Board of Directors met in May and decided to restart Circles gradually and as safely as possible.  This requires that we have some temporary changes to how our Circles operate.  Existing Circles restarted and we also resumed taking new applications. The health protocols include:

  • We will be meeting outside, wherever possible.

  • Participants should bring their own chair, if possible (ask your Circle Keeper for details for your particular Circle).

  • Masks should be worn by all participants.

  • Circle Keepers will have hand sanitizer available.

  • Circle Keepers/volunteers will sanitize all equipment, chairs, etc. before Circle.

  • We will not use a talking piece. We will use another method to have conversation pass to next person.

  • Circle Keepers will measure space out 6 feet between chairs.

  • We will not be providing food. Bottles of water may be provided, and bottles will be sanitized first.

  • Do not attend Circle if you are not feeling well.

  • Participants should be alert for symptoms and should err on the side of staying home if any symptoms are experienced. 

  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.

We believe it is an appropriate time to get back to our work in Circle - to continue to feel connected to our community and build relationships and support for each other during this difficult time.  We will continue to monitor the community health situation and may make changes to this protocol at any time if we believe it is unsafe.

Gertens Sale Still On

With the uncertainty of our times, we considered whether or not to hold our annual fundraiser and Gertens Flower Sale. One thing we've seen recently, is a reminder at how important Routine can be in times of change. We have decided to continue with the sale for our 11th year. We have structured sale and delivery to minimize contact. We will coordinate a contact-free pickup and all orders will be collected electronically.

We believe all need some beauty and new life in our lives right now, especially with so much isolation (and mothers still deserve flowers this Mother's Day!). We hope visualizing yourself on a warm spring day with flowers growing, the fresh fragrance of spring surrounding you (and perhaps even other humans within 6 feet of you) while you think, “It’s finally spring!”

Flowers will also be available to pick up in time for Mother’s Day, on April 30th, in Afton, MN (approximately one mile off Hwy 94 and Manning Ave). More details will be provided to those who order flowers.

Let us help you lift your spirits with flowers, plants, herbs, or plant cards from Gertens Garden Center. By purchasing an item through us, you help support Washington County Community Circles, Inc. (WCCC) and our efforts to spread Restorative Justice throughout Washington County.

Ordering Details
Please order flowers online through our form here. You can pay online directly (via Paypal) or send a check. More detailed information is on the order form. Orders are due by April 17th.

You can either pick up your flowers at the designated location or request a WCCC volunteer to drop it off at your house. 

Thank you for your continued support of Washington County Community Circles. We hope you stay healthy and safe during these tumultuous times.

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Thank you! Miigwich! Gracias! You get it…

We are grateful for another successful year of fundraising on Give to the Max Day last Thursday. We successfully maximized our $500 grant from Ogletree Deakins.

Thank you to all those who donate to our organization, whether in cash or in kind or through referrals, providing system support and partnership, volunteering, supplying space/ facilities, and in so many other ways you support us year-round.

We have a lot to be thankful for during the upcoming holiday. THANK YOU! #GIVEMN

Spring Training Registration Now Live!

We are now taking registrations for our transformational Circle 101 Training. This year’s training will take place on May 3-4 at Family Means in Stillwater, MN. Meals are provided as part of the training costs. Come and be in Circle with us in an informal, welcoming, and learning experience for participants and trainers alike.

Sign up here. Email us at contact@peacemakingcircles.org with any questions.

Annual Gertens Fundraiser Through Friday, April 12!

The Annual Gertens Spring Fundraiser for Washington County Community Circles is here! This is a great way to support our non-profit and also get some gorgeous plants/flowers for Mother's Day and/or summer (which is just around the corner).

Orders must be placed by April 12th and pick-up will be in Stillwater on May 8th.

Thanks in advance for your orders and for supporting WCCC!

https://bit.ly/2019WCCCFundraiser

Intern Kasi's Blog: Week in the Life of an Intern

Week In the Life of an Intern 4/19/18… This last week was much more of what I have been doing in the past, research research research. I don’t mind it though. Learning more and more about restorative justice and what it is doing in our country and in others is fascinating. I have a Google alert set up to my email that sends me any news stories or articles on the subjects of restorative justice and restorative practices.

I get articles on conferences on restorative justice to an article that I had seen before on the Marshall Project about restorative justice practices being used in a case of an adolescent who had, at first, robbed a meat deli and was sentenced to peacemaking circles. Except it didn’t work for him that time, he had then gone out after the circle was completed and was part of a team of two who killed another teenager. A judge, instead of just throwing him into prison, gave him one more shot with peacemaking circles and it was found that it worked on him that time. By the end of the circle he was about ready to graduate from high school and was preparing to go to college. Talk about a turn around. You can find the article here: https://goo.gl/NY9Muz. Sorry for the short blog post this week, there wasn’t much to say besides I did a lot of research. ~Kasi

Intern Kasi's Blog: Week in the Life of an Intern

These last two weeks have been more or less the same as the past. Last week there was no circle, but research was still done on restorative justice and peacemaking circles. There was an article on posted on the Seattle Times online publishing about a judge who had, instead of sentencing a juvenile to prison for murdering another adolescent, he sentenced him to peacemaking circles. While the progress was slow at first, three years after his original crime, a robbery of a deli market, the juvenile was a new person and had been able to face his own problems and grow from it. That is one thing that I love the most about peacemaking circles and what they stand for. They change people positively. I have seen with clients of WCCC that, though I have only been going to circle for a little over a month and a half now, they have changed from the person they originally were. A lot of them when they started were not very nice to others, did not want to be there and thus sugar coated everything to get out of it. Now, when there is circle, all of them are so friendly with the other people there, they are willing to update on their life and on their case with the courts. It is amazing hearing about how the clients were when they started and seeing how they are now and how much of a difference there is. I truly believe that peacemaking circles and restorative justice work and change people in a positive way.

Another event that occurred within the last two weeks was an event that myself and Miranda, another intern with WCCC, put together in our school’s Center for Justice and Law. We wanted to introduce restorative justice to those who may have not known what it was and to show how it can be used as an alternative to incarceration. We had Lynn Schurrer, a member of the Board of Directors, come and speak about WCCC and everyone who came to the event.  It was about 15 people, were very receptive to the idea and had quite a few questions about both the organization and restorative justice in general.

At circle this week we spoke on the value of spirituality. While I did not know what to say myself, everyone else there spoke about being connected to one another, feeling a sense of humanity in yourself when faced with adversity, and even about our beliefs in a higher being. It was wonderful hearing what other people had to say about spirituality and how they viewed it because I pretty much had no idea what to say. During the actual circle we spoke about needing a support system in place for ourselves when we enter into that frame of mind of not knowing what to do next. Having someone there to support you when you are down or to pick you up when you have fallen is extremely important and is rather rare in our current world. A lot of people say that they are independent and do not need anyone else, when in reality they do. Everyone needs someone sometimes and that is okay. Having a support system is not a sign of weakness, instead it is a sign of strength because you recognize that sometimes you can’t do it all on your own and that you may need someone else there to help you. Those are my thoughts from the last two weeks, I hope you learned a thing or two and I will see you all next week! ~Kasi

Intern Kasi's Blog: Week in the Life of an Intern

This week there was circle, but due to my school being on spring break, I was not able to attend as I went home for the week. But while at home I continued my research on restorative justice, specifically about restorative justice centers around the United States. I mentioned in a previous blog about what our world could possibly look like without prisons. As I was researching on centers around the country, I was surprised to find that there was one basically right in my own backyard in my hometown! Wisconsin is not known to have a very good criminal justice system so it surprised me to find that they did in fact have a restorative justice centers in the state. While there are only two, on in Waukesha and one in River Falls, it was still nice to see that there were these kinds of centers being used in the state.

Other research I have been doing is on the school to prison pipeline that is very much a problem in our country. For those who do not know what the pipeline is, it is in response to zero tolerance policies in schools where students are punished with suspension or worse for trivial and minor offenses like skipping class or stealing from another student. For the most part, the pipeline is disproportionately targeted toward minority students and students with learning disabilities and even LGBT students. For a paper I am required to complete in my Capstone class, I have chosen to write about the pipeline and how restorative justice practices can eventually eliminate the pipeline as students will be able to learn why their actions were wrong and why they received the consequence they did. All in all, I am excited and thoroughly enjoying the research I have been conducting and am even more excited to continue it. See you next week! ~Kasi

Intern Kasi's Blog: Week in the Life of an Intern

As with last week, there was no circle this week, but it gave me the opportunity to dive deeper into my research on restorative justice and I an excited about it. I found this on TED talk that speaks about what our world could look like without prisons. The speaker talks about restorative justice centers that are currently being built around the country. I have also begun to think of what I can do in my future after college and how I want to slowly begin to implement the concept of both restorative justice and community circles back home in my high school and then begin to expand to the other high schools and then to the broader community. The research that I am doing for this internship is only going to help me in the long run. This post is a little short as it was just research, research, research.

Next week there is circle, but I have gone home for Spring Break, so more research for me. I will report what I find though! See you next time ~Kasi

The TED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/deanna_van_buren_what_a_world_without_prisons_could_look_like 

Intern Kasi's Blog: A World Without Prisons

Here is a question for the ages; what would a world without prisons look like? It is easy to think about all of the positive possibilities that could arise from this, but it is also easy to think of all of the negative possibilities. Without prisons all of the murderers and drug dealers will be back on the streets wreaking havoc and making life rather miserable for the general population. But in reality, that is not what would happen. Having a world without prisons does not mean having a world without punishment. And even using the word punishment is a little harsh. On very plausible solution to eliminating prisons but still ‘punishing’ offenders would be restorative justice practices. These practices can range from community circles like what Washington County Community Circles does, to restorative justice centers, like what a TED talk that I watched spoke about. So it’s not just eliminating prisons and letting those who are in prison roam the streets, it is finding a better solution to mass incarceration in America. Many countries around the world are already implementing restorative justice practices into their own criminal justice system. America is rather far behind in having a well-oiled criminal justice machine of a system, but there are things that can be done to fix that.

To watch the TED talk, you can find it here; https://goo.gl/GfAwc4

Intern Kasi's Blog: Week in the Life of an Intern

This week there was no circle, which is a little saddening, but it gave me more time to really get into the thick of restorative justice research. I found a whole other world in the form of TED and TEDx talks. There are so many talks that have been done on our justice system and restorative justice and how we can fix our broken system. My favorite that I watched, or rather one of my favorites, is a talk done by a prosecutor named Adam Foss. You can find it here: https://youtu.be/H1fvr9rGgSg. I wrote another post that had this TED talk in it, but I really want to tell you all that this talk is amazing. He talks about helping his clients find their path to success and to understand their actions better and how they can impact other people that are not them. While this isn’t exactly restorative justice, it is pretty close to it and anything close to restorative justice is good to me.

Another talk that I watched is called ‘The Neuroscience of Restorative Justice,’ you can find it here: https://www.ted.com/talks/daniel_reisel_the_neuroscience_of_restorative_justice. In this talk the presenter Daniel Reisel talks about a study he did in prisons and what the brains of those that are incarcerated look like. He found that in most cases, their Amygdala, the center for emotion control and empathy in our brain, are smaller than the average person. Because of this, they are unable to understand other people’s emotions to the full extent and are unable to be empathic toward others. Restorative justice aims to fix that in a sense. Like a muscle, the parts of our brains that may be lacking can be worked to be strengthened and if we are put in situations where we are being told how something impacts another person, specifically the actions of one person on another, it can strengthen the brain to understand and reciprocate those emotions back.

All in all, this week was mind blowing for me as I have researched so much that I have even decided that I want to make a future that involves restorative justice and trying to reform our justice system. I don’t know how exactly yet, but I am slowly working through that confusion and coming to a clearer answer. ~Kasi

Intern Kasi's Blog: School-To-Prison Pipeline & Restorative Justice

When the phrase ‘School To Prison Pipeline’ is uttered to an average person on the street, most don’t know what it is. In a nutshell, the school-to-prison pipeline starts in the classroom. When combined with zero-tolerance policies, a teacher's decision to refer students for punishment can mean they are pushed out of the classroom—and much more likely to be introduced into the criminal justice system. Basically, kids are being punished for small things in school and are being torn from the classroom and are not given the education they deserve and that increases the likelihood that they will end up in the criminal justice system.

So how does restorative justice play into that? Restorative justice is being introduced to schools throughout the United States and it is slowly starting to show results. Having kids sit down and talk with each other or their teacher or even the principal is proving to work better and faster than suspension or expulsion. In one school in Manhattan’s Hamilton Heights neighborhood a teacher is implementing restorative justice practices into their classroom. In the article I read about this, the teacher describes that the standard punishment for misbehavior is to send them to the principal to be suspended, but this teacher knew that this kind of punishment would do way more harm than good, so they decided to try out RJ. The teacher then goes on to describe what restorative justice would look like in this student’s case. Basically it would be the teacher, the student, some of the students classmates, and a facilitator sitting in a circle or group and talking through the students actions. Then they would all create a plan that would repair the harm done. If schools around our nation could adopt this kind of mindset instead of zero tolerance, wouldn’t the amount of criminals go down? Wouldn’t our crime rate decrease even more? Wouldn’t mass incarceration slowly decrease? The answer to all of these questions would be yes, in theory. In practice maybe not, but it is a place to start to reform our justice system.

All information for this post comes from:

https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/spring-2013/the-schooltoprison-pipeline

https://brightthemag.com/in-classroom-discipline-a-soft-approach-is-harder-than-it-looks-3cc043197fb

Intern Kasi's Blog: What Would Our Justice System Look Like If Restorative Justice Was the Standard?

It is easy to dream about a justice system where what we currently have is no longer the case and restorative justice has taken its place. Taking offenders and talking with them, setting them on a path for success is what we all want to happen. Offenders understanding why what they did was wrong and how they can change their behavior to not re-offend is what we all want.

In a TED Talk on restorative justice, Adam Foss, a prosecutor, speaks of his vision for a better justice system. When he is sat down with clients, he can make a choice. He either decides to send them to trial or he works with them. He almost always chooses to work with them. He talks with them about the crime that had been committed and he helps them understand where they went wrong and then sets them up for success. In the talk he speaks of Christopher, one of his clients that had stolen a large amount of laptops from a Best Buy. This was Foss’ first client and everyone expected him to send Christopher to trial. Instead, he sat down with Christopher and talked with him. He got a backstory from him and had a better understanding behind why Christopher stole the laptops. In the end Christopher and Foss worked together and recovered about 75% of the laptops and set up a payment plan for Christopher to pay Best Buy back. But why would Foss spend his time doing this? Why not send him to trial and eventually jail? Because Foss saw that Christopher was a young kid who had a troubled past and needed someone to believe in him, and Foss did. Now Christopher is a bank manager at a large bank corporation and makes more money than Foss. If you want to watch the TED talk, you can find it here: https://youtu.be/H1fvr9rGgSg

That story sounds like exactly what our justice system should look like, but instead we throw offenders in jail and forget about them. Most of the time these offenders don’t necessarily know that what they are doing is wrong and they need to be reminded of it, but throwing them in jail prevents that. It is my dream to be part of the re-imagining of our justice system. We need to care more about the offenders and not the money gained from the state in the end. Offenders are humans too, they need someone to believe in them, and that is what both restorative justice as a concept and Washington County Community Circles is doing. They are taking offenders and looking at them as humans who just need someone to believe in them, and it’s working.

Intern Kasi's Blog: Week in the Life of an Intern...

RESPONSIBILITY. When I think of the work responsibility I can honestly say that I get a little anxious and nervous as I have many responsibilities that I am going to be dealing with in the next few months as I prepare for graduation. No matter how much I prepare for graduation and what I will be doing afterward, I am not going to be ready for all of the responsibilities that come with it, at least not right away. In circle this week it was one of WCCC’s clients last circles and sitting there listening to how far they have come since they started and how much the circle members have changed them for the better was inspiring. Each week as I sit through circle and listen to those around me and the client’s, I am more and more amazed by how effective this form of restorative justice really is. Like I had stated in a previous post, when I went into this internship, I wasn’t exactly sure how effective restorative justice was and now, only about a month in, I can see that it is incredibly effective at changing the lives of the client’s, but also the victims and the community, and how it can be used as a possible deterrent in the future of crime. One thing I really enjoyed about this week’s circle was seeing what a closing circle looks like and I was pleasantly surprised. There was a formal circle held, talking about final thoughts about the client’s case and the progress they have made, and then after that we had a little celebration to congratulate the client for completing the circle and for changing as a person into someone much better than before.

Each week as I research restorative justice more and more and look into how it can be implemented in other communities, I am seeing that in a lot of cases restorative justice is being implemented in schools and it is working for them. One article I read spoke about students being able to air their grievances and afterward they felt happier and safer in school. If using restorative justice practices in schools makes students feel safer, that means that it is doing something for them that is positive.

Those are my thoughts on this last week, I’ll see you next week. ~Kasi

Intern Kasi's Blog: Is Restorative Justice Worse For Us Than Incarceration?

Restorative Justice sounds like an end all be all to the problem that is the American justice system, but what if it isn’t as good as what we think? What if it actually harms our justice system? In a Wal-Mart in California, after a customer has attempted to steal a few items, they were taken into the back of the store and shown a video on how a criminal record can ruin someone’s future and was then told that they could fess up and attend a behavioral therapy to avoid this case going to court. When the individual was unable to fork up a $50 minimum fee, his case went to court, but not because he had attempted to steal something, instead it was part of another case on a company, CEC doing this to people in these stores and how it was illegal to do so. The company called this Restorative Justice. As we all now know, this is not restorative justice at all, and is, in fact, quite the opposite of it. Restorative justice is holding a perpetrator accountable to their actions and realizing where they went wrong. So there are companies and people out there that believe that this is restorative justice? How is that at all beneficial?

In an article on restorative justice and its effectiveness, it states that, in some cases, restorative justice does not allow most victims to participate in any formal process to resolve the issues surrounding their victimization. They also state that restorative justice doesn’t address the needs of the victim, and that victims need more than what restorative justice provides. In these ways, one can say that maybe restorative justice isn’t as positive as we once thought. But restorative justice isn’t about just the victim and their story, it is also about the perpetrator/offender and their story. It is about the offender being held accountable for their actions and understanding that what they did was wrong and how they as a person can fix it.

But on the other hand, in another article, it is said that there are many more benefits to restorative than costs. There are benefits for victims; obtain information, express the impact, be empowered, obtain restitution, an have control over the process and outcome. There are benefits for the community; be recognized and participate as secondary victims, be empowered, and build community responsibility. There are benefits for the offender; take accountability, undergo personal transformation, and can even be reintegrated when it is appropriate and safe for the offender, victim, and community. In the end, restorative justice is a work in progress as not many people know exactly what it is or how it works. With more education, this is a concept and practice that can be implemented in many communities and can help resolve the stigma around being an offender or victim.

All information for this post was taken from these two sites:

http://victimsofcrime.org/media/newsroom/speeches-and-testimony/restorative-justice

https://rjvictoria.wordpress.com/about/how-our-clients-benefit/