[00:00.10]From VOA Learning English,
[00:02.06]this is the Education Report.
[00:05.19]The path to prison often starts at a young age.
[00:09.92]One way to keep young offenders
[00:12.01]out of the criminal justice system
[00:14.25]is called restorative justice.
[00:17.35]One of the first non-profits organizations
[00:20.53]to use this method is Community Works
[00:23.72]in Oakland, California.
[00:25.36]The organization now handles 100 cases a year,
[00:30.15]it works in partnership
[00:32.19]with the district attorney's office
[00:34.28]and the probation department.
[00:36.33]Matthew Golde is a prosecutor
[00:38.87]in the district attorney's office.
[00:40.86]He says prison is not the best solution
[00:44.19]for most young people who commit a crime.
[00:47.23]"We know what happens when you incarcerate juveniles
[00:50.62]for a long period of time.
[00:51.77]They come out worse.
[00:52.81]For the vast majority,
[00:55.00]it is not empirically the best thing to do.
[00:57.94]So the question is 'What do we do?'"
[01:00.33]"I'm sorry for my actions on March 17, 2013,
[01:04.81]when you tried to stop me on the street in Berkeley.
[01:07.17]There is no excuse for what I did."
[01:09.18]John is 16 years old.
[01:11.76]He got caught tagging, putting graffiti on a building.
[01:16.14]He tried to run away and hit a police officer
[01:20.37]while resisting arrest.
[01:22.36]John is reading his letter of apology to the officer.
[01:26.40]"I still don't understand why I did it,
[01:28.44]but I do understand
[01:29.39]what a terrible choice it was to make in the moment.
[01:31.69]Hurting you was not my intention."
[01:33.74]Instead of a judge, there is a facilitated.
[01:37.48]John's parents are attending the conference
[01:40.56]with the police officer he attacked.
[01:42.81]They are sitting in a circle,
[01:44.85]and speaking directly to each other.
[01:47.88]Melissa Saavedra is an employee of Community Works,
[01:52.27]with her assistance, they agree on a restitution plan.
[01:56.80]John will perform 20 hours of community service
[02:01.43]and do work at home for his parents.
[02:04.76]"He's monitored very closely by myself
[02:06.95]with the support of mom and dad.
[02:09.04]We go through a plan and do right by the victim."
[02:11.68]John was given a second chance,
[02:14.43]He can return to school with no criminal record.
[02:18.96]Sujatha Baliga is the Restorative Justice director
[02:23.04]with the National Council on Crime and Delinquency,
[02:26.88]he says studies show that offenders
[02:29.52]going through restorative conferencing
[02:32.20]are less likely to commit a crime again in the future.
[02:36.79]Restorative justice is not well-known in the United States,
[02:42.27]but the system dates back hundreds of years,
[02:45.70]used by American Indian tribes
[02:49.05]and the aborigines of New Zealand.
[02:51.83]Mennonites in Ontario, Canada
[02:54.57]started the modern-day practice in the 1970s.
[02:58.90]The idea has since spread to other parts of the world.
[03:03.24]Ruth Morgan is the executive director of Community Works.
[03:08.32]He says the group will soon expand the program
[03:11.86]to work with the district attorney in nearby San Francisco.
[03:16.64]Restorative practices have already spread
[03:18.84]to public schools in the San Francisco and Oakland area.
[03:23.21]Teachers and administrators are using restorative circles
[03:27.75]and conferencing to reduce student suspensions and expulsions.
[03:32.98]And that's the Education Report from VOA Learning English.
[03:37.46]I'm Christopher Cruise.