Restorative Justice Action Plan 2019 - 23

Outcome 1: Restorative Justice is available across Scotland

Organisation

• The policy paper is currently in draft format and with the Scottish Government for early comments. Once concluded, the Scottish Government will consider how the draft will be consulted on and provide further information on this to stakeholders. An EQHIRA and Island Impact Assessment will also be completed. 
• We have begun work on the options appraisal paper in which we will submit options for possible RJ delivery models for Scotland to the Scottish Government. We are using the HM Treasury Green Book method to undertake the work and will be running an options longlisting workshop with a small group of key stakeholders in November, with a view to submitting the paper to government in December 2023.
• The RJ World Café Research Project: On 19 July, the RJ national team hosted an interview in Motherwell to explore the views on trauma informed Restorative Justice and its principles with an individual who both experienced and caused harm. And on 18 August, The Wise Group hosted the RJ nation team in Glasgow to complete the World Café with those who had caused harm across a range of harm types. We recognise that people who cause harm are likely to have experienced harm themselves and these discussions provided an opportunity to speak about harm from both perspectives:

• Both the interview and the World Café sessions proved to be thought-provoking, unveiling insightful points on what trauma informed and responsive feel like and will be used to design a clear roadmap for RJ service development including RJ policy and screening tools. Output from all World Cafés and interviews were presented to the Sheriffdom Lothian and Borders Development group and will also be presented at the next RJ Stakeholder meeting.

• CJS hosted the 4th Sheriffdom Lothian and Borders Development group meeting in August, which focused on the work done to date including the findings from the World Café research, updates on RJ test cases, policy and practice framework and CYCJ work. This was attended by 22 stakeholders and a full minute can be accessed here (see Session 4). To access meeting slides, please contact Mhairi.Henderson@communityjustice.scot
• CJS are working with two RJ service providers to run three RJ test cases. One case is in the Lothian and Borders Sheriffdom area and two cases are in an island setting. The service providers will deliver the cases, while CJS will capture and monitor data to learn more about how RJ cases could work in practice in Scotland. We are particularly keen to learn more about referral processes, information and data sharing protocols, grievance procedures and across person-centred outcomes. This will help inform potential future models for RJ in Scotland. We are in the process of writing up contracts with our identified service providers. Once these contracts have been finalised we will be able to share more details regarding who the providers are and their experience of delivering RJ. We hope that our service providers will be able to begin the process of delivering the cases by the end of October 2023. 
• Currently RJ commenced in Scotland to test and refine future models and delivery methods will not include domestic and/or sexual harm. Work is ongoing currently between the Scottish Government and representatives from the VAWG sector to develop further research and understanding of risk management and mitigation in such harm types, prior to any advancement of RJ in these harm types.

Organisation

Progress

• Following the engagement sessions with three groups of children and young people in quarter 1, outputs were agreed and produced. This included a “Know Your Rights” paper with the purpose of supporting children and young people to navigate the Restorative Justice process using information that the children and young people we engaged with felt was important. This resource supports children to understand their rights and is split into 9 sections: what type of process; your opinion matters; someone with you; voluntary; feeling safe; your best interests; preparing for the meetings; and follow up with your facilitator. This paper will be offered in both hard copy and via a URL link. It is currently in its final stage of peer review with the children and young people involved and will be published in next quarter.
• Another document was produced for practitioners carrying out Restorative Justice process. The 'Key Messages From Children and Young People' paper highlights the important points that children and young people want practitioners to know. This resource will also be published next quarter. 
• Preparatory work was undertaken with two primary schools in order to replicate the engagement work with secondary school pupils with those under age 12, which is due to start in early October.
• A meeting was hosted by CYCJ with Scottish Government and Victim Support Scotland (VSS) to consider the role of VSS within Restorative Justice for children and young people. It was agreed the CYCJ and VSS would continue to work together to engage victims whilst also mapping  the current youth justice landscape to highlight where restorative processes could be offered. 
• CYCJ and CJS met with the Youth Justice Team Manager of the Scottish Borders to discuss identifying test cases of RJ to contribute to the evaluation of the test site within the Lothian and Borders. There are meetings planned next quarter with East Lothian for the same purpose.

Outcome 2: Restorative Justice is delivered by highly trained and skilled facilitators

Organisation

Progress

• Discussion has taken place with Tim Chapman in relation to offering training specific to children rights and Restorative Justice. This has been costed and approved by the Scottish Government. Similar training was delivered recently in London which was attended by a member of the CYCJ practice team. 
• There have also been ongoing meetings between CYCJ, CJS and Action for Children regarding delivering training for their practitioners to facilitate RJ.

Outcome 3: There is a public awareness and understanding of Restorative Justice across Scotland

Organisation

Progress

• In this quarter, the CJS learning hub’s section providing Restorative Justice content has been viewed 438 times by 152 individual users, and generated 1,755 engagements.
• On 14 September, CJS hosted a free in-person workshop in Edinburgh with Dr Ian Marder from Maynooth University School of Law and Criminology. Tailored for justice professionals, the two-hour interactive event aimed to deepen their understanding of how Restorative Justice underpins a community-centric approach to justice, fostering transformative change and shaping a restorative culture across the criminal justice sector that extends beyond the facilitation of victim-offender dialogues. 18 attendees also had an opportunity to engage with industry colleagues and expand their professional networks. While feedback received was positive, it also highlighted specific areas of interest in RJ and restorative practices that participants wished to explore further. The knowledge and insights acquired during and post-event will inform the design and content of future events. 

• To learn more about Dr Marder's work and access valuable online resources follow the links below:  
  🔗Restorative Justice in Ireland
  🔗Dr Ian Marder
• In a half-day planning meeting in September, CJS and CYCJ focused on enhancing collaboration and partnership work. The discussions also included communication with the wider public and setting in motion plans for three key joint deliverables: the communications plan for the #RJWeek2023, an updated RJ animation video reflecting the current landscape of RJ service development across Scotland as well as incorporating a number of additional elements for improved accessibility, and the development of the RJ Children’s picture book as an important educational tool.
• In response to the findings and recommendations of the Sheriffdom Lothian and Borders Stakeholder Communication Needs Survey, a feedback channel for stakeholders to communicate with the CJS RJ national team has been devised and disseminated. The selected method is a feedback form, enabling stakeholders to offer comments, express concerns, and deliberate on any other matters related to RJ that warrant attention. To date, two responses have been received, generally rating communication as satisfactory and expressing interest in additional information updates. The form is scheduled for circulation every quarter, and it remains accessible at any time via the button located at the bottom of this report. We encourage stakeholders to proactively utilize this feedback mechanism.   

Organisation

Progress

• This quarter, a podcast episode was recorded with Tim Chapman discussing RJ and children’s rights. This will be available next quarter.  
• In collaboration with the Scottish Network of Restorative Justice Researchers (SNRJR) plans are underway to hold a webinar later this year in relation to RJ, rights, needs and voices of children and young people. The webinar aims to cover what Restorative Justice can offer children and young people, what it could look like and how children and young people could influence the development of RJ in Scotland.
• Plans are underway in relation to RJ week 2023 which takes place between the 19^th and the 25^th of November.

Restorative Justice Animation

Useful documents

Stakeholder Feedback Form

Contacts