Breaking the School to Prison Pipeline: Rethinking Juvenile Justice in Nebraska

Alisha Jimenez, Restorative Justice Program Analyst, NE Supreme Court’s Office of Dispute Resolution

Contrary to traditional juvenile justice, restorative justice takes a holistic approach to justice, viewing crime as a violation of people and relationships, thereby providing low-risk youth offenders with understanding and accountability. Research shows once a youth is formally processed through the juvenile justice system, his odds of returning to the system are significantly increased. Furthermore, as more jurisdictions invite law enforcement into schools as School Resource Officers graduation rates drop, justice involvement increases, and youth experience greater contact with the justice system. The state of Nebraska recognized a need for programs that divert youth from the system and provide youth who have a lapse in judgment an opportunity to repair the harm caused. The Office of Dispute Resolution, in conjunction with Nebraska’s six regional mediation centers, works to promote and provide restorative justice programming to youth across the juvenile justice spectrum: from pre-filing and citations issued by law enforcement in schools, to post-adjudicated youth on probation. The Nebraska Supreme Court’s Office of Dispute Resolution is committed to enhancing and advancing the use of restorative justice in courts and communities. The state legislature has supported the Judicial Branch’s efforts by passing legislation over the years, and most recently, in authorizing the use of restorative justice programs such as victim offender dialogue and victim offender mediation.

Evaluation is a necessary component to the development and implementation of effective programs in any jurisdiction. The Victim Offender Mediation model of restorative justice is an evidence-based program that has been carried out in adult and juvenile populations for decades. In juvenile populations, such programs have demonstrated lower recidivism; greater victim and offender satisfaction; and greater cost effectiveness compared to traditional programs. Due to the extensive supporting research that has been published over the years, Nebraska’s Administrative Office of the Courts, the Office of Dispute Resolution, and the mediation centers welcomed the program to the state. A Victim Youth Conference engages a youth offender, the individual(s) harmed by the youth’s acts, and the surrounding community in a process through which they can identify a mutual resolution.

This work by the Office of Dispute Resolution and the mediation centers has demonstrated such success that the Office of Dispute Resolution was granted more than 1 million dollars to continue providing restorative justice services and make the program available to interested counties state-wide. Within a relatively short period, the Victim Youth Conference program has increased the number of partnerships to a total of 1,148 stakeholders including courts; county and city attorneys; probation; school; and city and county officials in 56 counties. While the Victim Youth Conference program has only been in operation for a few years, both internal and external evaluation results are extremely positive. Between January, 2015 and June, 2018, of the 349 cases referred, almost half were either fully or partially completed successfully, while only 10% of all cases were “unsuccessful”. Additionally, the rate of recidivism within the same period was only about 15%.

The program continues to generate success as more communities take advantage of the healing-driven programming.

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