You did not ask to be a victim. We respect your dignity as a human being and we acknowledge your victimization. Accountability of the offender for the harm caused to you, as the victim, is paramount and every effort will be made for your restoration and for restoration of community losses, as a result of the crimes committed by the offender.
Although the juvenile who offended against you has been committed to the custody of the Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections (referred to as “Department”), you may have many questions or concerns about how this affects you. The Department subscribes to the Community Justice Balanced Approach Model that states juveniles will be held accountable for their crimes, develop competency skills and communities will be protected. Within this philosophy, the victim is regarded as one of the Department’s customers. In an effort to attend to the needs and rights of victims, we impress upon juvenile offenders the need to restore their victims and communities.
The mission of the Department is to hold juvenile offenders accountable in constructive and meaningful ways and crime prevention is viewed as a high priority. In an effort to attend to the needs and rights of victims, we impress upon juvenile offenders the need to restore their victims and communities. We strive to help juveniles become responsible citizens by developing life skills and holding them accountable.
Juvenile offenders are helped to better understand the enormous impact their actions have had on others. They learn what empathy and reconciliation mean by actively working to repair the harm they have caused and to restore a sense of safety to individuals and communities. These steps also help strengthen our response to crime and wrongdoing.
Opportunities to restore and repair can be provided through local, county or state services. They do no replace court processes but can be added to traditional criminal justice procedures bringing better outcomes for those directly affected by juvenile wrongdoing and crime. There are a variety of methods that seek to achieve these goals. Victim panels, mediation, restorative conferencing, Peace Making Circles, and restorative community service are examples of how victims and communities can begin to heal. These processes aim to help the victims, communities, and offenders deal with the harm that has been done. They can also provide the opportunity for closure and, in some instances, emotional healing that typically does not happen in the court process or other related system services.