About Restorative Justice Initiative Midlands.

Restorative Justice Initiative (Midlands) is community based charity organisation committed to providing Restorative Justice/Alternative Dispute Resolution (mediation) to migrants’ population, local communities, victims and incarcerated offenders in the Midlands. We mediate crime/conflicts between victim and offenders and assists to reintegrate ex-offenders with their families/communities.

Our mission is to develop and support various models of justice which create opportunities between victims and offenders, and their communities for healing and restoration. Through these initiatives, our communities will be a safer and better place in which to live.

The offender, the victim, and the community all must play an active role throughout the process in order to arrive at a workable, equitable, fair, and just resolution to the problem.

We encourage you to take full advantage of the unique opportunity you have been given. We will guide and assist you as much as possible…as long as we feel that you are making an honest attempt to uphold your responsibilities and that you are working toward restoring your good name in our community

Vision Statement:

Encompassing community representation at all levels dedicated to providing collaborative partnerships and education that addresses, encourages, and supports crime prevention efforts across the Midlands. We exist to promote comprehensive awareness about the role that effective restorative justice practices and mediation plays in crime prevention and in improving the quality of life for all. Restorative Justice Initiative is recognised as the driving force in promoting and advancing sustainable crime prevention amongst migrants and local community (Restorative Justice – Mediation), and in enhancing community safety through progressive resources and training tailored to address local needs throughout the Midlands.

Vision

  1. To preserve a high quality of life and feeling of safety for the region's diverse population.
  2. To optimise the use of restorative justice to balance firm and quick response to all forms of crime with community problem solving and crime prevention approaches. RJI is mission-oriented in all of its priorities and activities.
  3. RJI philosophy and work processes reflect modern, quality conflict mediation concepts, involving every member of the community in an effort to continually improve all areas of administration and operations. Quality leadership at all levels reflects RJI's commitment to a strong work ethics, while valuing diversity, promoting effective learning, enhancing and maintaining flexibility.
  4. RJI constantly strives for effectiveness in preventing and fighting migrants and youth crime, for effective collaboration with other organisation, and for providing support to law enforcement. To this end, RJI recruits and trains volunteer mediators, supports and train participants as progressive peer mediators.
  5. Through this process it is hope that young people, migrants and community members will resolve conflicts in a respectful, safe and restorative manner.
  6. RJI promotes a greater understanding of Principled Nonviolence and Conflict Transformation at the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and paradigmatic levels. We positively and conscientiously communicate with audiences at different levels of familiarity with our subject matter.
  7. We seek to inspire hope by showing a way out of the pattern of conflict, crime and injustice. We seek to facilitate new understandings between people, empower people to incorporate peaceful principles in their work for social change, and contribute to the creation of a nonviolent future in our community

Objectives

To promote restorative justice for the public benefit as a means of resolving conflict and promoting reconciliation by:

  • a) Promoting

    the use of restorative justice in the criminal justice system, in schools, in the workplace and elsewhere in the community in situations where conflict may arise.

  • b) Advancing

    education and research on restorative justice and the publication of the useful results of that research.

  • c) To provide

    alternative methods (Restorative Justice - mediation) of dealing with crime, wrongdoing and conflicts to young people, migrants and local communities

  • d) To assist

    young people to deal with conflicts through mediation and train them to gain an understanding of the Criminal Justice Process

  • e) To promote

    family and community cohesion – hence crime prevention amongst migrants population and local community members

  • f) To contribute

    and promote a safer and stronger community through alternative disputes resolution and mediation

  • g) To assist

    in the reintegration of ex-offenders and to provide Restorative Justice Meetings to incarcerated offenders to give them an opportunity to make amends to their victims.

  • h) To advance

    the education and training of migrant communities and their dependents in need thereof so as to advise them in life and assist them to adapt within a new community

  • i) To assist

    crime victims in their healing and offenders to take responsibility for their actions.