Restorative practitioners available weekly at high school

Starting Thursday, September 22, trained facilitators from Cook County MN Restorative Justice (CCMNRJ), a program of the North Shore Health Care Foundation (NSHCF), will have a presence each Wednesday at Cook County ISD 166 High School, around the advisory/lunch hour outside of the cafeteria. Volunteers trained in restorative practices including peacemaking through dialogue, harm reparation and conflict resolution, will be available for students and staff to access on Wednesdays to help build relationships and skills in positive conflict resolution.

“Students can often be experiencing some type of conflict whether that is among friends, at home, at a job or even feeling bullied,” said ISD 166 Principal Megan Myers. “It is our hope that by having these trained volunteers available to students regularly, they will not only build relationships with these community members, but will take advantage of having access to supports which help resolve conflict and teach these important reparation skills.”

The Restorative Justice program sees youth involved in about 80 per cent of cases. The program which serves all of Cook County and Grand Portage is overseen by an Advisory Committee made up of representatives from several community partners including ISD 166 Schools, the County Attorney’s Office, the Cook County Sheriff ’s Office, Probations, Cook County Public Health & Human Services, Grand Portage Human Services, the Violence Prevention Center, elected officials from both Cook County and Grand Portage.

“The Restorative Justice program and learning how to use restorative practices can dramatically change the course of people’s lives for the better while healing wrongs and preserving relationships in communities,” said Inger Andress, Chair – Cook County MN Restorative Justice and Board Member of the North Shore Health Care Foundation. “The benefits of this program are not limited to rectifying incidents of a criminal nature, but also have real potential to restore harms in any conflict situation, including bullying.”

To date, the CCMNRJ has more than 25 trained volunteers throughout Cook County and Grand Portage. The program is also exploring taking on Truancy cases within the program and has a subcommittee of partners working on the framework.

For more information about the Cook County Restorative Justice Program, contact Chair Inger Andress at inger@ccmnrj.org or the North Shore Health Care Foundation at 218-387-9076 or NSHCF@boreal.org.