Community Conferencing Program

Community Conferencing is a facilitated dialogue that allows neighborhoods, schools, government agencies, faith communities, organizations and families respond to conflict in constructive ways. Community Conferencing provides all people who are involved in and affected by a conflict or crime a safe and structured space to resolve the matter effectively. Community Conferencing is listed as a level 2 and level 4 intervention on the PGCPS Code of Student Conduct Level of Responses and Interventions chart.”

All participants have the chance to: understand what happened; hear how everyone has been affected; and create a written agreement designed to repair any harm and prevent the incident from happening again. Agreements are monitored through compliance before being returned to the referring agency. Conferences are held at a convenient time, in the community of the participants whenever possible. Suitable for 1st and 2nd degree assault; theft/shoplifting; destruction of property; auto theft; burglary; school suspension, expulsion and arrest; neighborhood disputes; and harassment/bullying/cyberbullying.

Community Building Circles

Community Building Circles (also known as a Talking Circle or a Peacemaking Circle), uses a structural framework to build relationships and to address conflict within a community. These Circles serve to create safe spaces, build connections and offer teachers a unique means of formative assessment.

Re-entry Circles

Offenders returning to the community after a prison term face many challenges to successful reintegration including the issues that first sent them to prison. Restorative practices like re-entry circles are increasingly being used to help these returning members of the community make this transition back to their families and communities.

Facilitation

Community Dialogues

Facilitation is a group process that calls for a collaborative approach to reach a solution through a participatory decision-making process. A facilitator guides the conversation between the participants, ensuring a safe environment. The facilitator gathers all those who need to be involved in the decision-making process, helps to plan and design the meeting, and assists with identifying important issues and topics. He or she also encourages the exchange of dialogue, and supports the participants in clarifying goals and options that will help the group reach an agreement. The community dialogues may include several different groups within a community, and the process may take place over several month.

Large Group Facilitation

A trained group facilitator will assist large groups, such as work groups, large families, faith groups, and neighborhood groups to work through conflicts, variant viewpoints, and organizational constraints that limit a group’s progress. The facilitator helps the group to develop a plan to get back on track and work toward their common goals.