RCE Salisbury - 2020

Local Restorative Justice Initiative
Basic Information
Title of project : 
Local Restorative Justice Initiative
Submitting RCE: 
RCE Salisbury
Focal point(s) and affiliation(s)
Name: 
Dr. Brittany Foutz
Organizational Affiliation: 
RCE Salisbury, Salisbury University, Department of Conflict Analysis and Resolution
Name: 
Ms. Christa Peek
Organizational Affiliation: 
Salisbury University, Department of Conflict Analysis and Resolution
Name: 
Ms. Francesca Falasa
Organizational Affiliation: 
Salisbury University, Department of Conflict Analysis and Resolution
Name: 
Mr. Nicholas Rea
Organizational Affiliation: 
Salisbury University, Department of Conflict Analysis and Resolution
Name: 
Dr. Brian Polkinghorn
Organizational Affiliation: 
Salisbury University, Department of Conflict Analysis and Resolution
Format of project: 
Project
Language of project: 
English
Date of submission:
Monday, February 10, 2020
Geographical & Education Information
Region: 
Americas
Country: 
United States
Location(s): 
Salisbury, MD
Address of focal point institution for project: 
1100 CAMDEN AVE
Ecosystem(s):
Target Audience:
Socioeconomic and environmental characteristics of the area : 
The Eastern Shore (i.e. the Delmarva side of the bay) is known for its accessibility to waterways, beaches, and nature, as well as its slower pace of life with less traffic and congestion. In regard to the Chesapeake Bay and its impact on the Delmarva environment and economy, an eastern section of the State of West Virginia, Central Pennsylvania and a small section of Central New York are also being taken into consideration. (See Section 4.5 on Environmental Data)

The Eastern Shore began the twenty-first century with strong growth across multiple economic indicators. The region gained jobs at double the rate of the rest of the state from 2001 to 2007 while also outpacing the state in net business creation and keeping pace in wage growth. However, there are more people experiencing poverty now than there were 30 years ago. Maryland’s poverty rate is 19 percent higher than it was in 1990 – a year that the U.S. economy entered a recession – and there are nearly 200,000 more Marylanders trying to get by on incomes below the federal poverty line. Nearly every county in the state has a higher poverty rate than it had in 1990. While unemployment rates have continued to decline since the 2008 recession, wages often are not high enough to support a family.
Description of sustainable development challenge(s) in the area the project addresses: 
What makes this region unique is also its challenge: open land for farming and chicken farms with their runoff into the Bay which threatens the watermen — and climate change, which threatens the tourist industry and population on the islands and coastal areas. Migrant workers whose children begin the school year and are often gone by Christmas; diversity and lack of education and poverty; proximity to large cities, where young people tend to flock, an aging population, and the resulting stress on local institutions all serve up many issues that we need to address.
Contents
Status: 
Ongoing
Size of academic audience: 
30
Results: 
The project is ongoing.
Lessons learned: 
The project is ongoing.
Key messages: 
Restorative justice is like recycling: when the students gets suspended in a conflict, you can’t just throw them away. They get suspended and they never are able to understand what happened. They go through that process, but they’re just thrown away. This is the school-to-prison pipelines. They go through this process where they just get thrown away, and they’re gone and they’re locked away forever. If they go through the restorative justice system, that’s like recycling; the bottle’s being recycled. Now the bottle can go through this process to be reused, and be put back into the community. Once being recycled and put back into the community, it can understood what it did and why it did it, and the harmed party gets to understand what happened as well.

This portrait examines the complex dynamics that play out of many of our local schools. We need agents of positive change, to turn the paradigm on its side, and help incorporate restorative justice in our schools to address and improve behaviors. What is restorative justice? It’s defined by the Cambridge English Dictionary as, “a way of dealing with crime that emphasizes taking responsibility for the effect of your crime on others, and trying to do something that makes things better for the victims.”

Our project will incorporate restorative justice initiatives and principles, such as using peacekeeping and truth circles, to help keep our students, teachers, and communities safe, and apply these to add value of our life on land. We will incorporate this restorative justice philosophy in ensuring the conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of our ecosystems.
Relationship to other RCE activities: 
None
Funding: 
None
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
(https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs) and other themes of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
SDG 3 - Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages 
Direct
SDG 4 - Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all 
Direct
SDG 11 - Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable 
Direct
SDG 16 - Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels 
Direct
SDG 17 - Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development 
Direct
Theme
Traditional Knowledge  
Direct
Curriculum Development 
Direct
ESD for 2030-Priority Action Areas
Priority Action Area 1 - Advancing policy 
state: 
Direct
Priority Action Area 2 - Transforming learning and training environments 
state: 
Direct
Priority Action Area 3 - Developing capacities of educators and trainers 
state: 
Direct
Priority Action Area 4 - Mobilizing youth 
state: 
Direct
Priority Action Area 5 - Accelerating sustainable solutions at local level 
state: 
Direct
Update: 
No