WHEREAS the Restorative Justice program provides a great value to communities and to the provincial government by resolving certain criminal incidents outside of the formal criminal justice system, therefore reducing provincial costs of the court system; AND WHEREAS current provincial funding to the program is limited: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that UBCM request that the provincial government consider greater funding to cost share in the Restorative Justice programs across the province.
Ministry of Justice Through the Community Accountability Program, the Province of British Columbia provides funding to community-based restorative justice programs to support volunteer training, volunteer recognition and to offset administrative costs. In addition, programs may be eligible for enrollment in the Provinces Master Insurance Program. The Province has also supported the delivery of responsive and effective community-based restorative justice approaches in BC by providing training opportunities for restorative justice service providers. In May 2013, the Ministry of Justice funded a series of regional trainings for contracted Community Accountability Programs delivered in partnership with the Community Justice Initiatives Association. The training goals included ensuring consistent, quality service delivery taking into account victims needs and issues and increasing capacity to accept referrals of increased diversity and complexity. In May 2014, with funding leveraged from the federal Department of Justice, key professionals from police-based victim service programs and community-based restorative justice programs across BC came together to participate in a two-day symposium on building stronger relationships and identifying best practices to build stronger relationships between police- based victim service programs and restorative justice programs.