Youth Alliance is currently implementing a pilot program working with 4 schools in Gilroy Unified School District and Morgan Hill Unified School District. Restorative Justice is a set of principles and practices employed to build community and respond to student misconduct, with the goals of repairing harm and restoring relationships between those impacted. Both the theory and practice of restorative justice emphasize the importance of:
- Identifying the harm,
- Involving all stakeholders to their desired comfort level, and
- True accountability—taking steps to repair the harm and address its causes to the degree possible.
Youth Alliance’s program will be targeting chronic absence, truancy, suspensions, and expulsions. By collaborating with students’ schools and other agencies to address students’ needs, advocating on behalf of the students, and creating a family-centered model, we plan to address and help these issues