Restorative juvenile justice practices use support from family members and the community to discuss the effects of what transpired on the victim, family, and/or community, in order to actively create steps towards repairing the harm that occured.  In addition to reacting to delinquent behavior, a proactive goal of Restorative Justice is to improve community involement in the prevention of juvenile crime by improving neighborhoods and strengthening bonds between community members.

Specifically for the juvenile offender, it is hoped that through Restorative Justice practices they will be able to understand the impact of their behavior and accept responsibility for their actions.  In addition,  family and community members can help the youth express remorse and take action to repair damage, this can aide the youth in becoming a valued member of the community. To learn more about restorative justice and peacemaking, check out the 2018 National Center for State Courts' publication. 

Nebraska Juvenile Restorative Justice & Family Intervention Initiative

The Office of Dispute Resolution (Administrative Office of the Courts and Probation’s Court Services Division) was awarded a $1M, 3-year grant to implement the Juvenile Restorative Justice and Family Intervention Initiative, a statewide “upstream” program geared at diverting youth under the age of 18 from the court system.  This initiative builds on the juvenile restorative justice work in Nebraska by expanding services to engage families. Including families is important for two reasons: 1) families can provide support to youth as they work to repair the harm they caused through completion of reparation plans, and 2) many families are dealing with issues that make it harder for the youth to succeed if the family issues are not addressed. For more information, view a PDF of the Initiative's overview.  

Restorative Justice Programs Currently Available (NOTE: Available programs vary by county.)

• Restorative Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice Services Overview
• Expedited Family Group Conference
• Justice Youth and Family Conference
• Juvenile Mediation
• Pre-Hearing Juvenile Family Dialogue
• Project Restore

• Victim Youth Conference

Further Reading

• Victim Youth Conferencing Final Evaluation Report (June 2018-July 2021)
• Recidivisim Rates for Victim Youth Conferencing at ODR-Approved Mediation Centers: January 2018 - December 2020
• Victim Youth Conferencing Evaluation Report (July 2019-June 2020)
• Victim Youth Conferencing 2018-2019 Cumulative Report
• Victim Youth Conferencing Evaluation Report (July 2018-June 2019)
• Victim Youth Conferencing Evaluation Report (July 2017-June 2018)
• VYC Fact Sheet (2015-2018)

• Project Restore Report (2017)
• Nebraska Victim Youth Conference Flyer
• Nebraska Victim Youth Conferencing (VYC) 2017 Fact Sheet 
• The Juvenile Victim Offender Conferencing Pilot Program: A Year in Review (2016)