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Facilitating Restorative Group Conferences

Lesson 5: Further Development of Conferencing Skills

Minnesota Department of Correctionswith the National Institute of Corrections

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Lesson Objectives (1)

Facilitate preparation meetings and conference meetings in a variety of situations

Create a safe place for all the participants

Work with difficult people and situations Identify and utilize re-integrative

opportunities

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Understand the characteristics of effective conference agreements

When called for, write a conference agreement

Bring a conference session to closure Understand the importance of

monitoring progress toward steps in the agreement

(2)

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Seating in Semi-Circle or Circle

S/CS/CS/CO

F

S/C S/CVS/C V

F

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Conference Site The room

– Size– Lighting, heat, circulation– Chairs, refreshments table– No noise or disruption

Written directions, if helpful Refreshments, tissues, name tags Atmosphere

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Also Think Through Ahead of Time Scheduling arrival times Possible separate waiting rooms Sharing facilitator roles with your

co-facilitator Order of speaking at the conference

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Conference Preparation Checklist

Handy reference for the many details Go through each item well ahead of

time

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Conference Script/Outline

Intended as an aid Use as written during this training After training, adapt for your own

use, but always:• Start with a standard preamble

• End with a standard closing

• In the middle, explore harm, effect, remorse, reintegration and healing with more flexibility

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Steps in a Conference

Preamble: facilitator intro and role, intro of participants, purpose, agenda, ground rules, (set tone)

Participants’ stories: victim or offender (victim’s choice), the other, supporters of each, and again until done

Repairing the harm: agreement discussion and consensus decision

Closing the conference

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Practice Conferences

Six people per team Take turns facilitating so everyone gets

experience Observers (people without a role to play)

use the Communication Checklist to give feedback

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Processing Questions

How did it feel in each of your roles? What did you see that you liked? Was a reasonable agreement reached? What made it difficult to reach

consensus? What helped to move the group along? How could the facilitator have improved

their performance?

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Practice Conferences Without Pre-Meetings

Six people per team Take turns facilitating so everyone gets

experience Observers (people without a role to

play) use the Communication Checklist to give feedback

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Processing Questions

What problems did you experience that could have been avoided with pre-meetings?

Facilitators: How did you feel about facilitating the conference without knowing more about the participants?

Now that you have experienced this conference, how would you prepare for future conferences?

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Evaluation of Today

In groups of approximately 5 people, discuss and note:

What worked well for you today? What you would like to see done

differently or added tomorrow?

* A reporter from each group will stay after to report the group’s feedback

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Agreements

Repair the harm to the victim Repair the harm to the community Assist the offender to make better future

choices

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“SAM”

Specific

Attainable

Measurable

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Review:Options for the Agreement Financial payment Work for victim Work for the charity of victim’s choice Restorative community service Apology Participation in education, assessment, or

program Anything else that feels fair to all participants Combination of the above

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Restorative Community ServiceCharacteristics: Worthwhile work Youth as resources and a focus on

outcomes Attention to transferable competencies Sense of accomplishment, closure and

community recognition Focus on helping the disadvantaged

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Community Service Ideally:1) Provides opportunity to make amends

2) Adds value to the community through contribution of offender

3) Changes community's perception of offender

4) Increases investment of offender in the community

5) Develops job skills for offender

6) Provides positive role models for offender

7) Creates relationships that strengthen community

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Know Local ResourcesInformation about free and low-cost

local services: Hotlines, information networks Chemical dependency

treatment/evaluation First Call for Help Translators/language services

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Child care, crisis nurseries Victims services Counseling GED programs Education in

– anger management– fire safety– cognitive skills restructuring– conflict resolution– conferencing

Opportunities for community service

(2)

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Practice Conferences: Pre-Meetings Six people per team Take turns facilitating Do pre-meetings consecutively Observers (people without a role to

play) use the Communication Checklist to give feedback

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Processing Questions: Pre-Meetings

How did it feel in each of your roles? What did you see that you liked? How could the facilitator have improved

their performance? Facilitators: how well do you think you

understand each person’s feelings?

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Practice Conferences Using Agreement Form

Do conference Use agreement form if agreement is

reached “Specific, Attainable, and Measurable”

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Processing Questions

How did it feel in each of your roles? What did you see that you liked? Was a reasonable agreement reached? What made it difficult to reach

consensus? What helped to move the group along? How could the facilitator have improved

their performance?

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“The Grand Conference”

______ people per team Facilitators are responsible for name

tags, tissues, seating order, etc. Do pre-meetings and conference Use agreement form if agreement is

reached Observers use the Communication

Checklist to give feedback

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Processing Questions How did it feel in each of your roles? What did you see that you liked? Was a reasonable, SAM, agreement

reached? What made it difficult to reach

consensus? What helped to move the group along? How could the facilitator have improved

their performance?