GREENFIELD — A community-based restorative justice organization born in Middlesex County is seeing results after expanding into Franklin County in January.
Communities for Restorative Justice (C4RJ) has partnered with the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office to divert certain cases out of the traditional court system and into a restorative justice process.
“It’s been going very well,” Executive Director Erin Freeborn said. “We’ve seen excitement across the board — from the prosecutors, the defense attorneys, as well as the police chiefs.”
The voluntary process starts with a perpetrator acknowledging harm. Through this, victims and other impacted parties can participate in determining how that harm can be addressed and repaired, including through community service, meaningful apologies, restitution and other restorative practices. Upon completion of the process, the criminal case might be dismissed.
Assistant District Attorney Michael Russo, who serves as chief of the District Court Unit for the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office, said this is a more organic way to resolve cases for both the victim and the person who committed the offense.
“They feel this is a more personal way of repairing a harm, from the impacted party’s perspective,” he said. “The victim feels like they are more involved in the process.”
Russo said qualifying offenses include malicious destruction of property, larceny, breaking and entering, and some assaults. He said the restorative justice program allows for more fulfilling resolutions than jail time, probation and fines after a lengthy court process.
“The responsible party works with volunteers to resolve the problem,” Russo said, adding that this program is popular with victims who would otherwise have only a victim-impact statement to air their grievances and attempt to find closure. “The victim can feel the apology.”
He said this means “prosecutors have a lot more tools in the toolbox for how to resolve cases.”
Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan said restorative justice practices bring accountability for those who have caused harm, as well as safety and healing to victims of crime. The program got underway in Hampshire County in 2020 prior to its introduction in Franklin County this year.
“It’s a program that relies on a collaborative effort by victims, offenders, law enforcement and community volunteers,” he said in a statement.
Freeborn added that this process allows victims to have their needs met and voices heard.
“No one [typically] asks them what they need to feel whole again. In this process, that is actually our starting point,” she said. “It originally began because community members and the [Concord] Chief of Police [Len Wetherbee] wanted a way to respond to crimes within their community without sending someone through the courts,” which would give them a criminal record.
Freeborn said the program’s expansion into Franklin County was made possible by a grant through the Vera Institute’s Reshaping Prosecution Initiative. She said that program works with prosecutor’s offices to implement data-driven, community-centered policies that deliver safety, accountability and justice without overreliance on criminal charges, convictions and incarceration. The grant focused on reducing excessive and unnecessary justice system involvement, advancing racial equity and centering the voices of directly impacted communities.
Freeborn said perpetrators that become involved with Communities for Restorative Justice have had an astonishingly low 16% recidivism rate over the past 26 years.
“We’re very proud of that,” she said. “The reason that it is so successful at changing a person’s trajectory is that they have to face what they did, accept responsibility, sit across from the victim and listen to the harm. It’s transformative.”
She mentioned that Communities for Restorative Justice now works with two dozen police departments as well as the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office and the DA’s offices for Middlesex and Suffolk counties.
Looking ahead, Communities for Restorative Justice has scheduled a speaking event at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Northampton on Oct. 25, during and after both morning worship services.
The organization’s work is primarily volunteer-driven, and it is always seeking new volunteers interested in restorative justice work, both online and in person, in Hampshire and Franklin counties. More information is available at C4RJ.org or on social media.
