The Restorative Justice and Restorative Practices Summit drew more than 400 people to downtown San Diego last Friday for a day of learning about the science of childhood adversity and how San Diego’s organizations and institutions are implementing trauma-informed and restorative justice practices.
Co-hosted by the Human Relations Commission and Commission on Gang Prevention & Intervention, the event brought together community residents, victims, service providers, youth, faith and civic leaders, educators, and representatives from the law enforcement and criminal justice communities.
At the beginning of the day, a parade of city and county leaders explained their participation in making San Diego a healing community. Retiring County Probation Chief Mack Jenkins related how nearly every employee in the San Diego County Probation department has received training on the science and consequences of adverse childhood experiences, and trauma-informed practices.
San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman touched on the city’s community oriented policing model. City Attorney Jan Goldsmith talked about the Community Justice Initiative, and San Diego Unified School District Superintendent Cindy Marten reflected on how the district is changing its discipline policies to implement trauma-informed and restorative practices. Health, Human Services Agency (HHSA) Central Region Director Barbara Jimenez briefly explained how the agency is integrating trauma-informed policies.
The other highlights of the day include:
- Dr. Robert Ross, president and chief executive officer for The California Endowment, explained how "trauma and toxic stress foster hopelessness" by explaining how "the war on drugs became a war on people" and resulted in a 430% increase in the U.S. prison population. At the same time, he said, zero tolerance was implemented in our school systems, which substantially increased suspensions and expulsions. He emphasized how the U.S. needed to change its approach to solving problems such as drug addiction from a culture of punishment to a culture of prevention.
- Jane Stevens, founder and publisher of ACEs Connection Network, picked up on Ross’ theme to show how people from different sectors are implementing this new understanding of the science of adverse childhood experiences, including people in the faith-based community, education, and the court system.
- More than 50 individuals crowded in to engage with panelists during a breakout session on community-based programs. It was one of the event’s three morning breakout sessions. National Conflict Resolution Center's Restorative Community Conference Specialist Mayte Benitez moderated the session, which included panelists from the California Conference on Equality & Justice, Community Assistant Support Team (CAST), My Brother’s Keeper, Opportunity Network, San Diego Compassion Project and Youth Voice. The programs they described included supporting families impacted by violent loss, assisting youth in hospitals after shootings/stabbings, youth leadership opportunities with the highest needs youth and providing wrap-around services for their families, restorative community conferences, and youth-led civic engagement.
Scores of individuals engaged in several break-out sessions throughout the day with Action Circles moving the collective momentum to the next level of commitment. An Agenda of the day's event is attached.
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