Serving youth in Androscoggin, Cumberland, Franklin, Kennebec, Knox, Lincoln, Oxford, Sagadahoc, Waldo & York Counties
The Restorative Justice Project Maine (RJP Maine), located in Belfast, Maine, celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. As it marks this important milestone, it announces the exciting news that it has recently been awarded, through a competitive bid process, two contracts with the Maine Department of Corrections Juvenile Services to expand its youth harm repair services into all of Region 1 (York and Cumberland Counties) and Region 2 (Knox, Lincoln, Sagadahoc, Kennebec, Franklin, Androscoggin, and Oxford Counties). Because its home base of Belfast is located in Waldo County and falls within Region 3 of the Department of Corrections, RJP Maine will subcontract with Penquis CAP, the agency awarded Region 3, to continue providing services in Waldo County.
RJP Maine uses a victim-centered approach. More youth and their families will receive the same level of support that RJP Maine has provided to youth in Waldo, Knox, Lincoln, and Sagadahoc counties, with an anticipated number of youth served of 150 in the first year and 170 youth in the second year.
The involvement of victims and affected community members is at the heart of the restorative justice process, which emphasizes ensuring these individuals’ voices are heard and their needs addressed. This takes the form of using a victim-centered approach, including acknowledging and respecting the experiences, needs, and voices of those harmed; providing the opportunity to take a central role in determining how harm should be repaired; and respecting their choice to participate to the level in which they are comfortable.
The harm repair process creates an opportunity for the offender to learn and do better. It aims to increase a young person’s understanding of the impact of their actions on the victim and the community, instead of making punishment the central focus. This is more effective than punitive responses at preventing repeated harmful behavior. Repair Agreements can include identifying the underlying reasons a young person has caused harm and supporting the youth in addressing these root causes.
We are humbled to be given this opportunity by the Department of Corrections to expand our reach and to serve more youth. It’s a huge commitment and responsibility, but we’re up to the task, knowing that we will draw on all that we have learned in the last twenty years from some of the best restorative practitioners in the state. We know we wouldn’t have been awarded these contracts if not for the people who have made RJP Maine what it is today. -Executive Director, Kathy Durgin-Leighton
Referrals will be made to RJP Maine from the DOC’s Juvenile Community Corrections Officers and the community. If you know of a youth who has caused harm or a person who has been the victim of a youth’s actions, please feel free to make a referral by completing the RJPMaine Referral Form here.