The Balanced and Restorative Justice Model in the Juvenile Justice System

Those of us in the field of educational programming for juvenile offenders often find ourselves asked by colleagues and community members, even friends and family members, exactly what it is that we are trying to accomplish with the difficult and "troubled" young people whom we serve. Although we know the answers to that question (or at least hope that we do), it can be difficult to articulate a precise response. (Bennett 2934)

The formulation of the Balanced and Restorative Justice (BARJ) model has helped us to explain our educational  purpose. BARJ was first presented in "Juvenile Probation: The Balanced Approach" and most recently outlined in the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's (OJJDP) Guide for Implementing the Balanced and Restorative Justice Model. BARJ provides a "vision of the future ... that builds on current innovative practices and is based on core values that have been part of most communities for centuries". (Curwin 3639) The BARJ model's objectivescommunity safety, accountability, and competency developmentprovide a foundation for a curriculum that meets the special needs of alternative school students. The model addresses personal as well as academic development and strives to produce not only a "smarter" person but a "better" person as well. (Hansen 1417)

The Montgomery County Youth Center (MCYC) in Norristown, Pennsylvania, which serves delinquent and dependent youth aged twelve to seventeen, has developed an educational program and philosophy using the principles of BARJ. In this article, we share our thoughts on BARJ and its impact on educational programming for students atrisk. We hope that the reader will conclude, as we have, that the BARJ model provides a suitable framework for juvenile justice education into the twenty first century.

The BARJ model "rejects the 'old' paradigm of punishment vs. treatment and replaces it with a new way of thinking about juvenile justice". (Glass 11 36) Its mission is best represented as a triangle; each of the triangle's points represents an objectivecommunity safety, accountability, and competency developmentthat is given equal or "balanced" attention. Community safety refers to the right of citizens to live in peace, relative harmony, and mutual respect and to feel empowered to prevent and control crime. It is not focused solely on incarceration but on building preventive capacity in communities as well.

Accountability refers to the offender's (student's) willingness to take responsibility for his or her behavior, actions and decisions, and his or her sense of obligation to the victims and to the community. BARJ defines accountability not as punishment or the need to follow a set of rules, but rather as taking responsibility for one's behavior and taking action to repair the harm that has been done. Competency is "the capacity to do something well that others value. Juvenile offenders ... need to become competent, caring individuals who are concerned for those around them. . . . The BARJ approach provides opportunities for them to belong, contribute, form close relationships, make meaningful choices, develop transferable skills, and mentor others ...