Hate crime is on the rise, prompting the government to publish an updated Hate Crime Action Plan in July. Among other things, the Action Plan aims to ‘improve support for victims’ and the RJC is exploring what role restorative justice can play in achieving this. This article focuses on a particular case in Manchester, where the police used restorative justice in response to a hate crime incident and was previously featured in issue 58 of Resolution.
Salus are recruiting a Volunteer and Service Co-ordinator (Police Clinics Restorative Justice).
The successful candidate will work with victims of crime and their families, as well as supporting with the rehabilitation of young offenders.
Applicants will have the skills to lead a dedicated team of volunteers to ensure that victims and offenders benefit from a restorative justice process and will have experience of working with victims, young people and their families.
14.8 hours per week (includes some evenings and weekends).
The RJC is pleased to announce that Sunderland Youth Offending Service has been awarded the Restorative Service Quality Mark (RSQM).
Jon Collins, the RJC’s chief executive, said: “I would like to offer my congratulations to Sunderland Youth Offending Service for having successfully completed the RSQM. This is a mark of the organisation’s dedication to ensuring the highest standards in safe and effective restorative practice.”
On Sunday, the always well informed James Forsyth reported that there is ‘mounting concern at the top of government about how close to meltdown the prison system is’. This is hardly a surprise. Report after report in the last few months has highlighted the perilous state of the prison system, while recent prison statistics make grim reading.
The RJC is offering 10 non-criminal justice sector organisations the chance to apply for the newly-updated Restorative Service Quality Mark (RSQM) for just £1,500 plus VAT – a saving of £2,500 on the standard application fee. The offer is open on a first come first served basis to all organisations using restorative practice outside the criminal justice system.
As with the Ministry of Justice, the subject of a previous blog, the whole ministerial team at the Home Office changed before the summer, with a fresh face in every ministerial position. Yet, with the previous Home Secretary now in Downing Street, we can reasonably expect more continuity in Home Office policy than in many other departments. Amber Rudd will want to make her mark as Home Secretary, of course, but it’s hard to see a radical reshaping of her predecessor’s agenda.
The IARS International Institute is looking for individuals who have been a victim of any crime, and restorative justice practitioners to become members of the Restorative justice user scrutiny panel. The Panel is an independent body hosted by IARS as part of the Pan-London restorative justice service currently being developed by Restore: London. The service was commissioned by the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime.
‘Victim wellbeing’ is a phrase often linked to restorative justice, but what does that look like in practice? In this article, Greg Smith (restorative justice development manager at Thames Valley Restorative Justice Service (TVRJS)), Diana Batchelor (PhD researcher at Oxford University, and independent evaluation researcher for TVRJS) and Becci Seaborne (assistant director for restorative justice at TVRJS) consider why – and how – restorative justice could become a default option for health service providers.
