19th Edition - January 2012

You are cordially invited to join us at the 4th Annual Spring Gala at Beautiful Ruttger's Bay Lake Lodge for an evening of Wonderful Food, Great Conversation and Beautiful Music.

Friday, May 4th, 2012

Social Hour: 5:00 to 6:00 pm
Cash Bar will be available

Dinner: 6:00 to 7:30 pm

Chicken Breast over Wild Rice, Mushroom Sauce, Fresh Vegetables, Cranberry Relish, Salad, Rolls & dessert

Youth Concert: 7:30 to 9:00 pm

Silent Auction throughout the evening

$35 per person

for tickets purchased prior to April 20th - $40 each after that date Vegetarian meals may be requested with reservation.
Reservations required by Monday, April 30th & can be made by contacting: Janet or Charmaine @ 218-568-4145, by email: janet.wedan@larjp.org or mail to: LARJP, 4638 CO RD 11, Pequot Lakes, MN 56472

State of the Organization Update

The end of the year always seems to bring about thoughts of what has gone on for the year we are in as well as anticipation for the New Year to come. With that in mind I thought it would be a good idea to summarize what I think is great progress made in 2011. As we all know its easy to get caught up in the day to day activities or to focus on what yet needs to be done and under appreciate what has been accomplished. The Reputation of LARJP It seems to me, the respect for what our organization offers continues to grow in all sectors of the Crow Wing County community. We have become a proven means of handling juvenile issues outside the court system. Obviously, much of the credit goes to Stephanie and her knowledge and skill at working within the framework of restorative justice. She has developed a strong assistant in Terri Nault and the two of them provide the expertise that other communities can only envy. Both of them and the facilitators receive great support from Charmaine. Executive Director In the beginning we needed the vision and fundraising track record that Roger Lynn provided. Our start up is hard to imagine without him. As the organization has matured we have benefitted from the organizational skills that Jim has brought to the job. I, for one, feel things are much more in control and organized under Jims guidance. Its really what all organizations go through as they transition from startup to maturity. Jim has been greatly helped in this transition by the institutional memory that Janet provides us all. She has been the glue holding things together as we have tried to get more organized. The Board We have had a core group of solid board members for the last several years. Im confident that we have added to that with Valerie, Jon, Jim and now Eric. Everyone is performing at a high level. The fundraising committee with Bobs leadership runs extremely well and the PR committee is quickly catching up. This has been a year of great strides by the PR committee. Also, the two committees seem to work well together. Finances Never have we been in such good shape, at least for the near term. Sitting in December with a surplus is a rare luxury. Everyone gets credit for this situation. We are building an organization that foundations and agencies want to fund! That didnt happen without the work of everyone. 2012 Next year holds some exciting possibilities. If the new OJP grant comes through we will be working with schools on truancy as well as issues like bullying. The last is an extremely relevant topic right now. Developing the donor program as well as securing the necessary funds to operate should keep the fundraising committee busy. Public Relations will be focusing on all the different ways to keep our name in front of our various constituencies. But, it should be fun. We are a proven entity, we are better organized, we have great staff, and a solid working Board. What more can you ask for!!!! Happy Holidays and Happy New Year ~ David Slipy Chairman of the Board

From the Executive Directors Pen Jim Oraskovich_____________________________________________________________________ Thoughts of 2011

This is the time of year that we spend time reviewing LARJP activities from the past year. I think awareness of our work throughout the county continues to grow. There are so many success stories to share that it is obvious that restorative justice works. The quality of all of the people working in this organization is impressive. We have a hard working, dedicated staff to oversee the program operations. Board members all participate at some level beyond attendance at the bi-monthly board meetings. Each board member is willing to put in the extra time and has personal strengths in organizational practices to share. I feel the trained volunteer facilitators do the most important work. They carry out our purpose at each conference they facilitate. Working with the juvenile offenders and the victims they have harmed is the true basis of our mission. I needed to attend conferences as a community member to realize how special this action is. I would encourage all staff and board members to participate in the conference as a community member. I also encourage people that are looking for a rewarding, enriching experience to consider becoming a community member and/or volunteer facilitator. To get more information on both of these wonderful opportunities to contribute to our community, contact our office or fill out the interest form on our website. Being a community member provides us with resources for conference participants with a variety of backgrounds. The two main areas we focus on as staff and board members are maintaining an adequate number of trained volunteers and acquiring the funds it takes to operate LARJP. Each one of these areas can be addressed in the most effective way by personal contact. Whenever we hear of a possible volunteer facilitator or community member, our coordinators make immediate contact. We are working on a process of recognizing our donors in a more personal manner. The joint fundraising and public relations subcommittee has outlined a process to make individual contact with our donors by letters, phone calls and/or personal visits. Program results will be shared to emphasize the success the funding has helped us to achieve. I personally want to thank all the people who believe in and support our organization. And look forward to a very productive and successful 2012.

A Thank You to the Professionals First, you all should know that the Lakes Area Restorative Justice Project would not be possible without the cooperation of the Crow Wing County Attorneys office. If the County Attorney was not willing to have cases referred to us, we would not be in business! We have received great support from Don Ryans office. Secondly, local law enforcement across the County has embraced LARJP. Again, if the local officers did not see the value in what we do, many cases that we handle would end up in court. Two of our board members are local officers, Kate Peterson from Pequot Lakes and Troy Schreifels from Brainerd. Chief Klang, from Pequot Lakes, has just joined the board. Others, from law enforcement, have served on the board in the past. Thirdly, the county court has been another source of support. Judge Zimmerman, currently the juvenile judge, has been very supportive of our work. If youve seen our video, youve seen Judge Zimmerman. Finally, the local schools have gotten behind LARJP. Chris Palmer from the Pequot district is on our board. John MacDonald, formerly the principal at the Pequot Senior High, was on our board. Other teachers have served on the board as well. What this tells me, as a lay person, is that the restorative process appeals to the people who work every day with juveniles. That means a great deal to me, as Im sure it does to the other board members. It tells us all that what we are doing makes sense. That its a better way to handle some of the mistakes that juveniles make. If it didnt, Im sure the professionals in the field would not support it. Im reminded of what our Executive Director Jim Oraskovich has said, on more than one occasion, I wish I had known about restorative concepts during my years as a school administrator. Merry Christmas to everyone and lets have a successful 2012! David Slipy, Board Chair

Lakes Area Restorative Justice Project - 2011 Year End Report

A year of Improved Organization, Increased Program Strength & Continued service to the Citizens of Crow Wing County

2011 found us completing our 6th year of program operations. Our new director, Jim Oraskovich, finished his first year with LARJP in August. Under Jims leadership we completed our Strategic Planning update. The Board reviewed our original goals and objectives, as well as the valuable input we received during our Stakeholders meeting on November 29th, 2010. With this information the Board was able to refine and redefine our goals and objectives to ensure we continue to meet the needs of our community now and over the next several years. With this update of our goals and objectives we found possible areas for expanding services to the County, using our experience and expertise with restorative justice principals to address unmet needs. Initial groundwork has been laid to start working more closely with area schools, social services and the County Attorneys office to address the ongoing and growing issues of bullying, harassment, technology miss use and truancy in our area schools. Discussions have also been started with the probation office about the possibility of being involved during the pre-dispositional investigation process. Being involved in this manner will afford victims of juvenile offender crimes being processed by the court system the opportunity to meet with offenders and provide input for restitution and reparation that they would otherwise not have. We again offered two Volunteer training sessions this year, one in the spring and another this fall. There is always a never ending need to maintain a fairly large group of volunteers to draw from as the caseload can fluctuate greatly as to when the cases are referred to us. We also added a member to our part-time paid staff group, by bringing on one of our more experienced Volunteer Facilitators, Terri Nault, as our new Volunteer Coordinator at half the time allotted for our Executive Director and Program Services Director, Stephanie Haider. Terri is now in charge of organizing, distributing, follow-up and assisting on the cases with the volunteers. This will free up time for Stephanie to work more closely with our collaborating partners in addressing the new areas of service as discussed above; getting the details worked out and handling more of that caseload. Our caseload for the year was consistent with our annual average. From the statistical information below you will see that even though our individual offender count was down, our actual victim count was the highest it has ever been. We also continue to see a large number of extended family and community members participating in our program, which greatly helps these juvenile offenders succeed and continue to make better choices. So the overall number of people involved in individual cases continues to increase as well as the complexities of the cases referred.

All Conference participants are asked to fill out a survey form to rate their satisfaction on a number of issues as they relate to the conference itself, their overall experience with our program and if they have had court experience, how does this process compare. We use this information to ensure we are meeting the needs of our clients, providing a safe and respectful environment for their needs to be addressed as well as providing a forum for areas of need to be identified. Any areas of need identified are then used to design and implement our staff and volunteer training sessions to ensure those areas of need are addressed. Based on the 2011 Conference Surveys received our Client satisfaction rates in the following areas are:
On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best: Rate your satisfaction with the conference process: 9.2 Rate the process as to how fairly you were treated: 9.34 Rate as to how fairly everyone else was treated: 9.43 Rate your satisfaction on the agreed upon contract: 9.36 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Do you have a better understanding of how others were affected by this incident? 96% Yes Were all of your questions / concerns addressed through this process? 94.5% Yes If faced with a similar incident in the future would you choose the conferencing process? 100% Yes Do you feel participating in the conference was preferable to having the situation handed by the court? 96% Yes Financial Restitution collected for Victims in 2011 - $3,633.00. Dollar Value of Community Service Hours performed by the Offenders was over $10,800 for the almost 600 hours of work done.

Our Program is Growing & Expanding into new areas and We need You to grow with Us! Now is Your chance to make plans to sign up and attend the Spring Conference Facilitator Training and to join our Great Team of Volunteers working to make a Difference in the lives of Crime Victims, Youth and all Citizens of Crow Wing County? Every year many youth in Crow Wing County are involved in minor offenses like Fighting and small thefts, but some are involved in very serious offenses. Whatever the offense, they need to be held accountable. They also need to learn the harm their behavior caused and they need to decide not to do it again.

You can help these Youth and the Victims they have harmed!!
Volunteers generally donate about ten to fifteen hours per case and accept three to five cases per year. Cases can be scheduled at the volunteer's convenience. Volunteers work in pairs and will be mentored by LARJP staff as long as needed. Volunteers need to be 21 years of age; have their own transportation; a desire to help their community including youth, victims and families; and must complete 20 hours of training as well as four on-going in-services per year.

Three-day LARJP Training Friday, April 27th - 4:00 pm to 9:00 pm Saturday, April 28th - 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Sunday, April 29th - 12:00 pm to 7:00 pm Central Lakes College, Brainerd To get more Information or to Apply to be a Volunteer:
View our website to download description and application ~ www.lakesarearestorativejustice.org If you have any questions or would like to speak to someone about this opportunity please contact: Charmaine Shepard LARJP 4638 County Rd 11 Pequot Lakes, MN 56472 218-568-4145 email: office.assistant@larjp.org Terri Nault, Volunteer Coordinator 218-839-3522 or email: nault8@tds.net or Stephanie Haider, Director of Program Services 612-327-3162, email: stephhaider@aol.com

Our Year End Report Card is an A+ thanks to our wonderful Volunteers

"Before I never really thought about how much something could affect so many people." Thank you all for making this closure for us. It is something you couldn't get from a courtroom" "I believe it is a fair, humane way to address crimes such as these. I also believe it personally holds the kids responsible in a fair manner" "What a wonderful program for kids." The above are comments made by an offender, a victim, and community member in surveys written after they participated in separate restorative conferences. These and many similar comments assure us that we are meeting our goals of holding offenders accountable, enabling victims a voice, and engaging community in the process of healing. If you read our Year End Report on the facing page you will see from the great results submitted on our Conference Satisfaction Surveys completed in this year we are clearly accomplishing our mission and our well trained volunteer facilitators are doing an excellent job. Our conferences are facilitated by volunteer community members who have received twenty hours of classroom training, several hours of apprenticeship and on-going workshops. They are supported by our excellent office staff and by assistance whenever necessary from our program staff. We are looking for volunteer facilitators who are interested in donating as little as sixty hours per year scheduled as they are available. Please see the Spring Training information above. Thanks to all of you for enabling this important work to happen. It truly takes a Village and we have a great one! Stephanie Haider - Director of Program Services

Come meet David Jones

David Jones is celebrating newlywed status with his beautiful wife Wanda of whom he shares a January 13th birthday. They were married on January 13th 2011 and are fast approaching their first anniversary. Dave and his wife have 2 children each and 13 grandchildren. He has lived in Crow Wing County most of his life. He spent 5 yrs. in Wisconsin as a manager for Kmart Sporting Goods/ Automotive, did a stint in Australia for 15 months for the U.S. Navy on a Radio Communication Base and worked on a dairy farm for 5 years, which he really enjoyed. Dave has been a referee for basketball and volleyball and next summer will be celebrating his 29th year as a youth baseball umpire. He has been a Kinship Mentor for 3 different kids and enjoyed them all. I wanted to volunteer to work with kids and in checking the list from R.S.V.P. I found L.A.R.J.P. and it was about helping kids so I knew that's where I wanted to put my focus. Dave has been facilitating since April of 2010 and finds the work very rewarding. To be able to give kids a second chance, keep their mistakes off their records and hopefully turned in a new direction. I love being a part of the Restorative Justice program with L.A.R.J.P. and I love that my wife has also joined in the program as well. I think High Moral standards and good adult examples are key. Helping youth take complete responsibility for their actions and learning how important it is to tell the truth and helping them understand the impact their actions have on the community around them. Initially, I didn't really expect to see the kids face the people they harmed, face to face. But from those encounters I have seen amazing things come out of it .Not just for the kids but the people who were harmed have made a huge impact on my heart, by the way they have handled things with the kids. Dave and his wife have adopted two dogs, both girls, ones big and one's small. His wife is training them for therapy dogs and Dave assures us they really complete our family. I've had a lot of fun moments that I never expected because my whole life I was never a dog owner. They are like the kids; you never know what's coming next!!!!! One's a teenager and one is a Wild thing, a pogo stick in disguise and must be related to Houdini somehow. The teenager has deemed herself "Queen of the House" but she knows who's really in charge. Dave is a wonderful addition to the LARJP family with a heart of pure gold. Dave brings his compassion for others to the LARJP table and his winning personality always serves to make those around him smile. We look forward to many great LARJP moments with both Dave and Wanda.

Presenting..Troy Houde
Troy Houde is impassioned with the desire to help others. He has lived most of his life in Crow Wing County and has three sons, two of which are following in their veteran fathers footsteps by now serving in our military forces and a younger son in high school. Troy having worked at Anderson Brothers Construction for 20 years considers his time with that company a blessing. During his time with Anderson Brothers Troy was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and had eventually moved into a desk position as he physically became unable to continue in the manual labor venue of the job. Troy, never a quitter was approached by the company in regards to his future, recognizing that Troy was going to work himself to death. That meeting afforded me the opportunity, to fulfill my passions Troy said, and the parties mutually agreed to an early retirement. Not certain of what he would then do to reach out and help others, Troy found himself in a conversation with a friend and the question was asked of him what he would like to do with his new found time. Troy thought for a moment and the words that are emblazoned upon police squads everywhere To serve and protect jumped to his mind. Troy knew that physically hed be unable to protect but he knew that without a doubt the answer was to serve. Soon thereafter, while attending church, Troy noticed a small flyer inserted in his church bulletin and saw the printed question Do you want to help people? Troy knew his answer and that was the beginning of Troys introduction to the LARJP family. Troy has been a Volunteer Conference Facilitator for two years this coming spring and says that he was surprised at the Face to Face aspect of conferencing and the impact it has on the group. He said that the statistics shared about LARJP and its success is impressive and that The most important part about what we do is seeing those results and knowing we are doing some good. Troy is now attending school and when completed will have a major in Organizational Behavior Sciences and a minor in Psychology. He considers his bout with MS a blessing in disguise and feels blessed at the opportunities it has afforded himand that is to pursue his passions.

Introducing..Patricia Madison
Pat is one of those wonderful people that always seem to have a smile on her face. Pat posses a huggable personality and loves to laugh. She has one daughter and six grandchildren ranging in age from 7 to 19 years of age and having moved from the Willmar area Pat has now lived in Brainerd for 19 years and is enjoying retirement. Pat has served for 3 years as a LARJP facilitator as a result of attending a meeting with her grand-daughter who at that time served on the LARJP youth board. Pat said, I knew this was something I would enjoying doing. She noted that what she liked most about our program was working with offenders, victims and the community, knowing that there is a way to keep the youth (offenders) out of the court system and have them accountable for their actions. Pat said, My first experience as a facilitator was scary but well worth the end result She said that she has learned that Being a LARJP facilitator is a challenge in itself. She said that the unexpected difficulties come as a result of organizing the individuals and contacting everyone to actually meet at one time. Having worked with developmentally disabled individuals for 30 years she now finds time to volunteer for the Lake Area Senior Activity Center and RSVP in Brainerd. She also finds time to volunteer for BINGO at the American Legion and to lend her multiple life experiences to the LARJP program as a volunteer conference facilitator.

Remember that you can find us at ~ www.lakesarearestorativejustice.org

Join us on the web and meet the Board Members, see what the projects goals are, find out what upcoming events are taking place and when and more. Dont forget to come find us on Face Book too! You also have quick access to us through our contact us email links or use these addresses: Jim Oraskovich, Executive Director.executive.director@larjp.org Stephanie Haider, Program Services....stephhaider@aol.com Terri Nault, Volunteer Coordinatornault8@tds.net Janet Wedan, Administrative Assistant..janet.wedan@larjp.org Charmaine Shepard, Office Assistantoffice.assistant@larjp.org

Give us a Call at 218-568-4145 4638 Co Rd 11, Pequot Lakes, MN 56472

LARJP Board of Directors
David Slipy, Board Chair Christine Palmer, Vice Chair Valerie Macklem, Secretary Jon Weston, Treasurer Connie Friebohle Bob Hoeft Jim Hummel Greg Johnson Eric Klang John Newhouse Ray Niemann Kate Petersen Troy Schreifels Paul Tesdahl Mgt Training Consultant, Breezy Point School Counselor, Pequot Lakes Business Owner, Baxter Accountant, Brainerd Past Program Participant, Brainerd Retired Minister, Deerwood Retired Businessman, Pine River Retired Business Owner, Backus Police Chief, Pequot Lakes Business Owner ~ CEO, Brainerd Business Consultant, Pequot Lakes Police Officer, Pequot Lakes Police Sgt - School Resource Off, Brainerd Retired School Superintendent, Deerwood

Active Conference Facilitators

Sandra Bergstrom Gary Brown Toni Czeczok Connie Friebohle Marlin Gens Erik Hendrickson Robert Hershey Troy Houde
Ron Johnson David Jones Jack LaBarre Bridget Larson Rebecca Lee Pam Lillehei Patricia Madison Karen Mertes Cindy Moore Amy Odegard Kathy Pietz Terry Prettyman Charmaine Shepard Cheyenne Velazquez

Wanda Jones Kristi King

Our Mission:
The Lakes Area Restorative Justice Project is a community directed, operated and supported nonprofit organization located in Crow Wing County, whose mission is to restore community by involving juveniles who have caused harm, the people who were harmed, and local citizens in a process which addresses the needs of the victim, holds the youth accountable for restoration, and promotes healing for all.

January 2012
23rd Fundraising Committee Mtg 8 am, Brainerd Executive Committee Mtg 4 pm, Pequot Lks

February 2012
21st Regular Board Meeting 7 pm Pequot Lakes

April 2012
20th Spring Gala discount ticket price deadline New Facilitator Training See page 5

27th 29th

May 2012
4th Spring Gala Fundraiser See Page 1