Essential Restorative Justice Role of Human Service Nonprofits
With public support for cannabis legalization increasing, many states have jumped on the opportunity for legalization to increase tax revenues.
For communities impacted by over-policing, police surveillance, and high incarceration rates as the result of the War on Drugs (WoD), the legalization of cannabis as a source of tax revenue has received mixed reviews. Many have struggled to maintain a sense of community and reintegrate formerly incarcerated community members who were incarcerated due to “hard on drugs” policies. Over thirty years of policies designed to reduce the use of (then) illegal substances resulted in higher rates of incarceration in African-American and Hispanic communities, and devastated support systems. Attempts over the years to heal disrupted communities have fallen to community leaders and Human Service Nonprofits (HSNPs) who have earned the trust of community members and witnessed the consequences of WoD policies firsthand.
To restore the harm done, HSNPs often use restorative justice as methods for addressing family and social disruptions. In recent years, about-face policies legalizing the use and possession of Cannabis in Illinois have been a divergence from previous WoD policies. Like all things, this decision largely boils down to money and what can be done with it. Legislators in Illinois, in collaboration with community leaders and formerly incarcerated individuals, developed the Restore, Reinvest, Renew (R3) program to reinvest 25% of tax revenues ($28.3 million) into disinvested communities harmed by the WoD.
What is Restorative Justice, Really?
Drawing on Kirkwood’s practice framework, restorative justice is the process where victims, offenders, communities, nonprofits, and government agencies develop intervention, recovery, and reintegration strategies for addressing harm created by offenses and government reactions. This definition emphasizes the importance of various actors in implementing restorative justice, and , most importantly, emphasizes that HSNPs are essential to the development and delivery of initiatives by state and local governments. Simply put, restorative justice work cannot be completed in communities without HSNPs present in the communities who have earned the trust of community members.
How Does it Work? — Perceptions and New Partnerships
The R3 program is highly selective regarding who exactly can receive funding for community reinvestment. The program specifically targets improvement in what are known as “R3 zones”, regions in Illinois with high rates of gun violence, child poverty, unemployment, incarceration, and recidivism. Funding opportunities are also focused on civil legal aid, economic development, re-entry programs, violence prevention, and youth development. HSNPs and other agencies providing services in these areas within the R3 zones apply for grant funding with a twist. The R3 program is considered unique as the program emphasizes agencies who are already embedded in communities and recognizes the significance of these agencies as community leaders. Instead of being considered a granter-fundee relationship, HSNPs are seen as equal partners with the state and have the freedom to determine how to address community problems. After decades of policies which disproportionately impacted communities where HSNPs operate, the state’s decision to reinvest tax revenues from a previously criminalized activity raised some eyebrows. Our research explores nonprofit managers/public managers/policy makers perceptions of their restorative justice roles in state-led initiatives.
Perceptions of Restorative Justice Roles in State-led Initiatives
We examined this question through semi-structured interviews of nonprofit managers/public managers/policy makers involved in the R3 program. Two sample groups were created . The first consisting of (1) public managers and policy makers administering the grant/policy and others who had developed the R3 policy (PM sample). The second consisted of HSNP leaders/managers who receive R3 grant funding (SP Sample). Lists of potential interviewees were obtained from the R3 Program Board reports from October 2019 to June 2021 (PM Sample, 58 individuals contacted, 8.6% response rate), and from the list of Service Provider grantees (SP Sample, 48 individuals contacted, 27.1% response rate) obtained from Illinois Catalog of State Financial Assistance (2021). Interviewees were recruited by phone and email for Zoom interviews, with interviews occurring between August 2021 to January 2022.
Results
It was discovered that both samples were open to meaningfully implementing restorative justice into policy and service delivery. The SP Sample reported having more professional experiences with restorative justice whereas the PM sample consisted mainly of individuals with evolving understandings of restorative justice. Though participants in both samples largely reported being hopeful about the future of the R3 program, individuals in the SP Sample reported higher levels of skepticism about the partnership and its long-term impact.
Overall, we find that HSNPs are essential pivotal to restorative justice implementation due to their innovative methods, engaging in grassroots problem-solving, and strengths-based programs and services. However, the harm done to communities and historic inequities have had long-lasting impacts on relationships between states and the communities they aim to help. Though Illinois policymakers developed the R3 program using community leaders and formerly incarcerated individuals as consultants, and treat HSNPs as active and equal partners instead of traditional funder-grantee relationships, only a continued and unwavering commitment to reinvestment may serve to improve relationships.
This article is based on the paper “The Essential Role of Human Service Nonprofits in Restorative Justice Policy Implementation” in Nonprofit Policy Forum.
