Community Justice Center / Cosa Fresno

CJC/VORP: Community Justice Conferencing/Victim Offender Reconciliation Program: youth diversion initiative for youth to accept responsibility for harm caused through family group conferencing and mediation with the parties harmed to make things as right as possible. 140 youth were referred to CJC/VORP: 106 Juvenile Court; 34 Juvenile Probation; 78% 15-19 years old; 27% 10-14 years old. 68% Hispanic, 16% Black, 7% White, 5% Asian; 4% other. CJC provides trained mediators to initiate, monitor, and completed 140 referrals through 565 Community Justice Conferences. These consist of a series of meetings between the responsible party/ parties (offender), harmed party/parties (victim), and their supportive individuals, with the assistance of a mediator to address harm, its impact, and an opportunity to make things as right as possible. An agreement is established and signed by the responsible party and harmed party/parties.

COSA: Circles of Support and Accountability envisions a world, community, workplace, and family where every person is valued and given the opportunity to take responsibility where harm is done, recognized, and restored, making things as right as possible with all parties involved. CJC COSA Fresno and COSA San Diego Programs have 0% recidivism, not one person accepted into a COSA circle has caused another crime or harm. COSA Fresno provided weekly reentry circles and services to 71 individuals: 10 released from prison into COSA circles, 21 released into COSA Reentry Circle; 20 COSA graduates in COSA Community Circle; 20 Full Circle Members in Avenal State Prison (bi-monthly). Ethnicity: 48% Hispanic, 23% White, 19% Black, 4% Asian, 6% Other. COSA San Diego provided reentry circles and services to 52 participants: 42 released from prison, 2 released from jail, and 8 conditional released participants at Liberty Healthcare. 40% White, 30% Hispanic, 20% Black, 10% Other.

CJN: Community Justice Network: integrated community services that heal, guide, and elevate individuals, families, and neighborhoods through a coalition of community-based organizations and practitioners that collectively work together. CJN successfully developed collaborations with 20 partners throughout the first year of the project, actively involving 1,500 residents in conversations concerning issues of public safety, racial equality, and economic advancement. CJN partners engage in prevention (community), intervention (system impacted), reintegration (reentry) and education/training. Southwest Fresno was primary focus of CJN work.