BCRJP Founder, Judge Edward Brunner, envisioned a vibrant, interdependent partnership between community and government stakeholders. This partnership has allowed BCRJP to flourish with a solid foundation, supported equally by investments from leaders in the justice field and community members at the grassroots level. The following excerpt is from Barron County Restorative Justice Programs: A Partnership Model for Balancing Community and Government Resources for Juvenile Justice Services (pdf)*, a new article written by Ted Lewis that highlights the strengths of this partnership model.
This partnership vision was evident in Judge Edward R. Brunner’s effort to establish Barron County Restorative Justice Programs in 1998, having at that time been influenced by the training and expertise of BARJ researchers Gordon Bazemore, Dennis Maloney, and Mark Umbreit. Brunner understood that the best way to fulfill the three BARJ priorities (of accountability toward victims, competency development, and community safety) was to mobilize greater community resources in partnership with government resources (OJJDP, 1997). In a video interview with Judge Brunner in 2010, he stated his specific interest to base a new restorative justice initiative outside the walls of government agencies, precisely because of 1) the limits and restrictions of county justice agencies, and 2) the distinct strengths and resources of a community-based operation (Lewis, 2010). At the same time, he envisioned restorative justice opportunities available to and integrated with every government-based agency and school in the county.
*Printed in the Journal of Juvenile Justice (JOJJ) Fall of 2011 (a journal of OJJDP).
