CENTER FOR RESTORATIVE JUSTICE WORKS (CRJW)

Target demographics: Families with an incarcerated loved ones

Geographic areas served: California

Programs: Get On The Bus: Get On The Bus offers free transportation for children and their caregivers to visit their fathers and mothers in prison. The program provides travel bags for the children, comfort bags for the caregivers, a photo of each child with his or her parent, and meals for the day (breakfast, snack on the bus, a special lunch at the prison with their parent and dinner on the way home), all at no cost to the family. The organization receives the generous donation of facilities and professional services to accomplish their programs for sending 44 buses handed to 13 institutions to bring children to visit parents in prison.

Camp Suzanne: Camp Suzanne is a meaningful week-long summer program for children to heal and reconnect with their incarcerated mothers by creating art together. This program provides a rare opportunity for the child of a mother in prison to create and reinforce sustainable family bonds, as well as to nurture the concept of being part of a family unit. It is a transformative and uplifting gift for a child: to give them the opportunity to heal and truly reconnect with their mothers for a longer, more intimate period of time.

Transition4Success: Transition4Success provides employment and training opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals, at the Center for Restorative Justice Works headquarters. Our mission is to support positive post-prison outcomes for returned citizens by giving them a sense of self-worth, while also helping them adjust back into normalcy. Participants receive six-months of paid, hands-on experience working in a modern office setting, along with coaching and feedback in an environment that supports their successful transition.

Family Express: Family Express furthers CDCR’s (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations) mission of reducing recidivism and breaking the inter-generational cycle of crime by supporting the restoration of family relation by increasing the visiting and communication opportunities between children and the incarcerated loved ones. Family Express serves as a conduit to assist and accompany children and families in crossing the threshold that have separated the from their incarcerated loved ones. Through this Family Express creates awareness to the affected families and the public, to help bring others together and keep transforming the lives of many more families, building a support system and a community.

CrossOver: CrossOver unites communities with women in prison, community participants come together with women in prison for spiritual reflection and conversation in a nondenominational circle. We form a critical mass that helps to advocate for systemic change by mobilizing communities to move the current system toward a model of justice that promotes healing and restores relationships.