Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Restorative Justice Society Now A Charity - Hoping for Donations


The Board of Directors of the Restorative Justice Society - North Okanagan (RJS-NO)  is pleased to announce that the RJS-NO is a Registered Charity under Canada Revenue Agency.  Restorative justice (RJ) is for Persons Harmed (victims) first and foremost with a focus on the Persons Who Caused Harm (offenders).  Participation is voluntary and it is an approach to keep everyone involved in an incident out of the courts.  We are a newly formed Society, although we have received referral since January 2006 within the Vernon/North Okanagan RCMP Detachment area that includes: Vernon, Spallumcheen, Armstrong, Enderby, Coldstream and Lumby and three Regional Districts with Electoral Areas for BX/Swan Lake, BX/Silver Star, Enderby Rural, Lumby Rural, Cherryville, Falkland and Westwold/Monte Lake.  Referrals for RJ are received directly from the RCMP and Schools within the North Okanagan. The RJS-NO is supported by a core group of Volunteer Practitioners that form RJ Teams, making this a community-based service.  Over the years, RJ services have supported and advocated on behalf of over five hundred and fifty (550) persons harmed and over two hundred and twenty-five (225) persons who caused harm plus guardians and supporters.    Our logo represents the person harmed, the person who caused harm, the guardians and supporters, the community and the RJ Team coming together in a circle to reach an agreement on how to repair the harm. Our vision is to build safer and healthier communities through restorative justice principles and practices. Our mission is to connect individuals, to strengthen relationships and to build safe and healthy communities by repairing harm with the persons affected and the person who caused harm.
---------
Don Quixote Note: Re Vernon Taxpayers Contribution to Restorative Justice:

 From 2011 - 9.46 MB Annual Report (p.31):
                                                                                2011            2010

In the proposed 2013 Budget 2013-2017 Proposed Financial Plan - 28 MBPDF - Opens in new window
there is a line item for $50,444 for General Contracts in the Corporate Department (p.91) to reflect the  Transfer of Restorative Justice Contract to Corporate Services.

No comments: