The goal of Eau Claire County restorative justice is to heal and empower all participants to move forward the future, including the victim, the offender and the community.

What is restorative justice?

Restorative justice is a set of principles that sees crime as a violation of trust between people and seeks to put things right. It is focused on giving a voice to the victim, holding offenders accountable for their behaviors and helping repair the harm that was caused.

  • Victims gain a sense of recovery, a voice in the outcome, closure and a returned sense of safety and control. 
  • Offenders can identify and address the factors that caused them to choose the harmful behavior. They can show they are accountable for their actions and make reparations for the harm that was caused. 
  • The community gets a voice to explain how it was impacted and learns how to keep the community safer by discovering what it needs to do to inhibit crime. 

Eau Claire County Restorative Justice Icon

What is the restorative process?

Eau Claire County Restorative Justice (ECRJ) uses several different models of restorative justice that range from restorative conferences to circles, individual mentoring to group workshops. All our processes are based on the same building blocks of dialogue:

  1. What happened?
  2. Who was impacted?
  3. How can things be repaired?

By examining a situation from all angles, better understanding and resolution can take place. A restorative process promotes internal learning and healing that helps participants to be reintegrated back into the community to become contribution members.