What
are
restorative practices?
A Return to culture
Restorative practices draw on wisdom from Indigenous communities and communities of color from around the world. In our North American context, restorative practices are grounded in the traditions of the First Nation peoples. The Dakota and Anishinaabe peoples hold the local lineages in our Minnesotan communities.
The values of restorative practices, carried across generations and through lineages of teachers and mentors, help serve as anchors for practitioners to remain rooted in the restorative mindset. These fundamentals include:
- Rootedness in Relationships
- Voluntary / Consensual
- Honor agency and self-determination
- Seek to balance power and equal voice
- Emphasize listening and sharing from the heart
- Ask us to take responsibility and ownership
- Center on social justice and equity
- Require the intentional creation of space
Lineages of restorative practices can be found across the world and at points in time far before colonization and the emergence of present punitive models and systems. Minnesota restorative practitioners carry a variety of restorative lineages in community and offer these practices to youth, both in and out of the system. YRJI celebrates our return to restorative practices and a culture of accountability grounded in our interconnectedness as human beings.
PRESENT OUTCOMES FOR MINNESOTA YOUTH
A close look at Minnesota’s data shows that our current system is full of ongoing and significant racial disparities. The deeper a child is pushed into the legal system, the worse the outcomes are for that child and for our communities. These patterns are evident across all identified decision points leading to and within the youth legal system, which includes but is not limited to schools, police, prosecutors and courts.
In Minnesota, Indigenous youth are incarcerated at 12 times the rate of their white peers, Black youth are incarcerated at 8.5 times the rate of their white peers, and Latine youth at 2.7 times the rate of their peers, even though research shows that Black, Brown, Indigenous, and white youth commit most offenses at similar rates.
- White Students Enrolled 66.6%
- Disciplinary Incidents involving White Students 41%
- Black Students Enrolled 9.2%
- Disciplinary Incidents involving Black Students 33.7%
Racial Disparities in Discipline: Removals, Suspensions, Expulsions 2017-2018
One of the major drivers behind the trend at the front of the school-to-prison pipeline is the use of exclusionary discipline to push Black youth, Indigenous youth, and youth of Color out of Minnesota’s schools. For example, during the 2017-18 school year, white students made up 66.6% of all students but accounted for only 41% of students disciplined, while Black youth comprised only 9.2% of the students enrolled but accounted for 33.7% of all disciplinary incidents.
Data from: Minnesota Department of Education, 2020 Dangerous Weapons and Disciplinary Incidents Report.
Racial Disparities in Arrests 2017-2018
Minnesota’s youth arrests data shows a similar pattern. In 2017, white youth made up 73% of the population ages 10-17 but accounted for only 51% of juvenile arrests while Black youth comprised only 10% of youth ages 10-17 but accounted for 30% of juvenile arrests. Compared to their white peers, Black youth were 4.12 times more likely to be arrested, Indigenous youth were 2.86 times more likely to be arrested, Latine youth were 2.15 times more likely to be arrested, and all youth of Color were 2.68 times more likely to be arrested.
Data from: Minnesota Uniform Crime Report 2017.
- White Youth in Minnesota 73%
- White Youth Arrested 51%
- Black Youth in Minnesota 10%
- Black Youth Arrested 30%
- Indigenous Youth in Minnesota 2%
- Indigenous Youth Arrested 3%
- Latine Youth In Minnesota 9%
- Latine Youth Arrested 13%
- Asian Youth in Minnesota 7%
- Asian Youth Arrested 2%
Racial disparities also compound as youth go deeper into our juvenile legal system. For example, in 2017, Indigenous youth, once arrested, were 4.62 times more likely than their white peers to be held in secure detention. Similarly, youth of Color are significantly more likely to receive a delinquency adjudication, less likely to receive a probation, and more likely to be petitioned in adult court.
Again, research has repeatedly shown that these disparities are not the result of differences in offending behavior amongst youth of different racial and cultural backgrounds. Instead, they are a result of policies and practices leading to different system responses.
Indigenous youth, once arrested, were 4.62 times more likely than their white peers to be held in secure detention
Yet, the impact of the racist policies and practices at every decision point that push children out of communities and schools and deep into the justice system are devastating for youth, families, and communities of Color. The system is also highly ineffective in preventing further system involvement.
40% of youth adjudicated delinquent had new charges against them within 12 months
Recidivism rates indicate the legal system is ineffective in responding to young people in a way that prevents similar future behavior In Hennepin County, 40% of youth adjudicated delinquent had new charges against them within 12 months of 2020. In Ramsey County, between 2010 and 2019, nearly 60% of young people arrested or cited for the second time by law enforcement had a new arrest or referral within the following 12 months.
Despite these failures, Minnesota continues to finance its youth incarceration system at great cost. In fiscal year 2020, it is estimated that Minnesota spent $145,000 per youth incarcerated.
As made evident through the data, a systematic transformation of the juvenile legal system at every decision point is critical to addressing these long standing, deeply intertwined racial disparities. There is an urgent need to prioritize community-centered models of youth justice systems change that are grounded in racial equity and community-centered restorative justice.