About Us
The
Balanced and Restorative Justice (BARJ) project is
a national initiative of the Office
of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).
BARJ project trainers, researchers and juvenile justice practitioner's
work with jurisdictions nationwide to advance systemic changes
in juvenile justice policy and practice. As a model of community
justice, BARJ seeks to involve and meet the needs of three
co-participants in the justice process- victims, offenders,
and communities. In doing so, the BARJ model guides juvenile
justice systems toward "balance"
in meeting the sanctioning, public safety, and rehabilitative
needs of communities.
The project has worked with communities and criminal justice agencies
in over 50 jurisdictions and 35 states to provide training, education,
technical assistance, evaluation and research on emerging law enforcement
and restorative justice practices.
In the current grant year, the BARJ project has worked in 39 states
and provided training and technical assistance to more that 15,000
justice professionals. Additional project activities are focusing
on national outcome measures for juvenile justice and a new strategy
for juvenile re-entry into communities that is based in the concept
of service in the interest of others.
HISTORY
In 1993 the Balanced and Restorative Justice
Project began as a national initiative of the OJJDP through
a grant to Florida
Atlantic University. A partnership arrangement with
the Center for Restorative Justice and Mediation was
developed in 1994 through a subcontract with the University
of Minnesota. The goals of the project are to provide
training and technical assistance and to develop a variety
of written material to inform policy and practice pertinent
to the balanced approach mission and restorative justice
framework.
Management
Gordon Bazemore, Ph.D. ,
is currently a Professor of Criminal Justice at Florida
Atlantic University and the Director of the Community Justice
Institute. His primary research interests include juvenile
justice, youth policy, community policing, corrections,
and victim's issues. He is the author of over 45 journal
articles, numerous book chapters, and monographs on these
topics. Dr. Bazemore's recent publications appear in Justice
Quarterly, Crime and Delinquency, The Justice System Journal,
and the Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare. He recently
completed a book (co-edited) by Lode Walgrave entitled Restorative
Juvenile Justice: Repairing the Harm of Youth Crime (Criminal
Justice Press). He has directed several recent evaluations
of juvenile justice, corrections, and policing initiatives
funded by the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative
Service, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and various bureaus
of the U.S. Department of Justice. Dr. Bazemore is currently
the Project Director of the Balanced and Restorative Justice
Project. He recently completed a project funded by the Office
for Victims of Crime (U.S. Department of Justice) to study
judges' and crime victims' attitudes toward victim involvement
in juvenile court.
Amy Anstee-Haskins,
is the Administrator of the Community Justice Institute
and the Balanced and Restorative Justice Project.
She received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminology
and Sociology from Florida Southern College and her Masters
in Justice Policy and Management from Florida Atlantic University.
She has worked in several aspects of the juvenile justice
and social work fields from a diversion program run by the
Broward Sheriff's office to a Serious Habitual Offender
Commitment Program ran by a private corporation to the state
run child welfare/foster care system. She is also
a trainer for Restorative Group Conferencing.
Dennis Maloney
is a Community Justice Fellow with the Community Justice
Institute and the BARJ Project. Formerly Director of the
Department of Community Justice in Deschutes County, Oregon,
Dennis initiated a variety of juvenile and adult corrections
programs that have gained national attention. He is known
internationally for his seminal work, "Juvenile Probation:
The Balanced Approach" (co-authored by Roming and Armstrong),
first published by the Juvenile and Family Court Journal
in 1988. Dennis has written two books and over 30 published
articles. His book on probation is the most widely distributed
journal in the history of the National Council of Juvenile
and Family Court Judges. Over the past decade Dennis has
provided technical assistance to all 50 states. The Department
of State has distributed his writings to over 250 countries
and his work is now being utilized worldwide as a foundation
for justice system reform.
Project Staff
Heidi Vaniman,
Project Coordinator LaVon Dixon, Administrative
Assistant
Evelyn Hanneman
is the Editor of the Kaleidoscope of Justice Newsletter,
a publication of the Balanced and Restorative Justice Project.
She is Business Manager of the Baptist Peace Fellowship
of North America. Previously, she was Associate Director
of the Maine Council of Churches where she staffed their
criminal justice program from 1990 to 1998. She began a
restorative justice focus for the Council in 1995
Dee Bell is
an consultant of the Community Justice Institute at Florida
Atlantic University . She worked 25 years in Community Corrections
for the Georgia and Florida State Government. She has served
as the program manager for the Georgia State Board of Pardons
and Paroles for six years. Educated at Clemson University
and Emory University , she is a certified senior instructor
with the Georgia Peace Officer Standards Council and has
provided training in both state and national venues for
many years. Dee has served on the development team for several
curriculums to most recently include: Basis Training
for Restorative Justice Trainers, Training for Trainers
of Restorative Justice, Restorative Group Conferencing Training,
Training for Trainers of Restorative Group Conferencing
and the American Probation and Parole Association's
Principles of Prevention. She has received a number
of awards to include the JC Penny Outstanding Community
Leadership Award and the American Probation and Parole Association
Outstanding Member Award.
|