Equity, Safety, & Restorative Justice

Restorative approaches in education center on relationship and trust building, transformative social emotional learning, trauma informed practices, and collaborative problem solving. When Restorative approaches are embodied schoolwide, a foundation and structure are provided to address harm when it occurs through multiple individualized strategies based in Restorative Justice principles. Restorative Justice is a relational and community-centered approach to addressing harm that focuses on repairing relationships, restoring trust, and meeting the needs of those impacted. Rather than focusing primarily on punishment or rule enforcement, restorative justice asks key questions such as: Who has been harmed? What are their needs? Whose responsibility is it to repair the harm? (Zehr, 2015).

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ODE, with statewide partners, will advance a restorative and transformative justice theoretical framework and orientation towards school safety, which posits that culturally responsive and trauma-informed behavioral safety assessment systems integrating transformative and restorative practices will address the full continuum of student mental and behavioral health needs, from individual crisis response and recovery to whole school culture and climate interventions.

Educational Equity, Safety, and Restorative Justice programming supports the development and implementation of a school culture and climate approach to Behavioral Safety Assessment (BSA) and other related Safe and Inclusive Schools initiatives. Including organizing, facilitating, and developing statewide practices, policies, and training/technical assistance for improving school culture and climate – particularly with a transformative justice lens as applied to BSA.