This is a working paper from the National Bureau for Economic Research.  "This paper studies the effect of a restorative justice intervention targeted at youth ages 13 to 17 facing felony charges of medium severity (e.g., burglary, assault). Eligible youths were randomly assigned to participate in the Make-it-Right (MIR) restorative justice program or to a control group in which they faced criminal prosecution."

In 2016, The Georgia Juvenile Justice State Advisory Group (SAG) commissioned this study to track disproportionate minority contact with the Juvenile Justice System in counties throughout the state of Georgia.

This research brief is the first in a series of reports on the concept, application and effectiveness of restorative justice practices in criminal and juvenile justice. It describes the overall premise of restorative justice, defines the prominent restorative justice approaches being used in the justice system today, and summarizes findings from contemporary synthesis research on the effectiveness of restorative justice in reducing recidivism and promoting other positive outcome for offenders and victims.

This report was authored by Ashley Nellis, Ph.D., Senior ResearchAnalyst at The Sentencing Project. Substantial research assistance wasprovided by former Research Fellows Skye Liston and Savannah En.

This is a recently published reseach study which evaluated misdemeanor cases that occurred in Minneapolis between September 2014 and December 2018 finding that youth who participated in restorative justice diversion after arrest were less likely to experience re-arrest in the following year compared to those processed traditionally.

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This report was written by Richard Mendel, Senior Research Fellow at The Sentencing Project. It argues that "to reduce overreliance on youth incarceration, alternative-to-incarceration programs must be supported by youth justice systems that heed adolescent development research, make timely and evidence-informed decisions about how delinquency cases are handled, and institutionalize youth only as a last resort when they pose an immediate threat to public safety."

This report was written by Richard Mendel, Senior Research Fellow at The Sentencing Project. It identifies six program models that consistently produce better results than incarceration, and it details the essential characteristics required for any alternative-to-incarceration program – including homegrown programs developed by local justice system leaders and community partners – to reduce young people’s likelihood of reoffending and steer them to success.

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This report was written by Richard Mendel, Senior Research Fellow at The Sentencing Project. It summarizes the evidence documenting the serious problems associated with the youth justice system’s continuing heavy reliance on incarceration and makes recommendations for reducing the use of confinement.

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This report, written by Impact Justice’s Restorative Justice Project, explores Community Works West’s Restorative Community Conferencing program, which currently diverts over 100 youth per year away from the juvenile legal system. Restorative Community Conferencing (RCC) is a process for resolving harm through an organized, facilitated dialogue in which young people, with the support of family and community members, meet with their crime victims to create a plan to repair the harm caused by their offense.

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When it comes to Georgia’s approach to its youth legal system, the past is prologue. Policies that emphasize youth incarceration over rehabilitation have political roots going back decades in the state. Rather than providing young people with needed services, this approach has led to vast racial disparities, systematic school pushout, well-documented harms meriting federal intervention, and significant fiscal waste. This report explores the policies and practices of Georgia’s youth legal system, as well as the political culture that undergirds it.

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Published by UC Law SF’s Center for Racial and Economic Justice (CREJ), which is led by NACRJ Board President and Professor Thalia González, this timely and much-needed publication examines state restorative justice confidentiality, admissibility, and privilege legislation passed over the last five years (2020-2025).

As the analysis finds, since 2020, 14 new statutes across nine states have strengthened legal protections for restorative practices. The findings highlight a growing commitment across the states to support community and restorative justice practices. This is the first in a series of publications by CREJ and Thalia González about restorative justice policy to promote free public access to information about state laws and educate policymakers, community leaders, and practitioners about evolving legal standards and safeguards for individuals and communities engaged with restorative justice.

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Survivors of intimate partner violence and their advocates have long searched for alternatives to the legal justice system. In recent years, the conversation around restorative approaches to intimate partner violence has gained momentum. Building on years of research and community conversations, nationally and in New York City, this report outlines pathways for developing restorative and community-based approaches to intimate partner violence in New York City, in order to offer survivors, along with their families and communities, more options outside of the legal system to address the harm in their lives. The report is the culmination of a series of listening sessions and discussions with those directly impacted by intimate partner violence, along with those who have worked to create and implement restorative practices for addressing intimate partner violence. The listening sessions included survivors of harm, young people, people who have caused harm, community-based providers of domestic violence services, and legal system practitioners in the field.

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