Registration is open for online Foundations in Restorative Practices Program through the Hutchinson Center. This six-session course, part of the University of Maine Hutchinson Center’s professional development program, will be held from 9 a.m.– 4 p.m., April 20-21, May 19, June 29-30 and July 21. The cost is $900 per person. A limited number of need-based scholarships are available. More information is online.
Today’s best thinking in leadership, education and change management emphasizes the need to create spaces where people feel seen, heard and part of a community that cares. Restorative practices, which have their roots in Indigenous knowledge and traditions, are poised to meet this need, improving and repairing relationships between people and communities. The purpose of restorative practices is to build healthy communities, increase social capital, decrease crime and antisocial behavior, repair harm and restore relationships.
Through this Foundations in Restorative Practices program, participants will learn nonadversarial problem-solving tools to reach solutions in moments of conflict that go beyond de-escalation and build safer, healthier, more equitable environments. Systematic use of restorative practices can leave participants and the people they interact with feeling connected to positive, resilient and accountable communities.
Educators, parents, school administrators, health care providers, social workers, police officers, municipal workers and nonprofit workers alike can benefit from restorative practices.
The restorative practices program is facilitated by Heather Fogg, Sarah Matari and Jamar Williams of Restorative Justice Project Maine (RJPM).
Matari began providing restorative practices and mediation services to institutions and communities early on in her alternative dispute resolution career. As a trainer and consultant for the New York City Department of Education restorative pilot project, she delivered mediation and restorative circle trainings to staff and students in an effort to help schools work toward restorative culture change. She learned firsthand the importance of having a sustainable implementation strategy and team approach when engaging with restorative practices and brings that experience in her directing of RJPM’s Training and Capacity Building Team.
Fogg joined RJPM July 2021. She values the interconnectedness of all people and honors that as a circle keeper; conflict coach; mediator; restorative dialogue and restorative reflection facilitator; community dialogue facilitator; conferencing facilitator; and Certified Optimum Life Breathologist (C.O.L.B.). Fogg shares her love of the work by awakening the ideas and concepts within others via trainings, presentations and teaching courses about conflict and resolution and restorative justice. She served on the board and leadership circle of the Circle of Restorative Initiatives (CRI) for Maryland, helping to spread the awakening to restorative values and the processes that support them. Fogg was fortunate to grow in the field with years of support, love and encouragement from colleagues and collaborators at the Maryland Judiciary Mediation and Conflict Resolution Office (MACRO).
Williams joined RJPM in August 2021 as a trainer on the Training and Capacity Building Team. He has extensive experience in various aspects of the prison reentry field and has leveraged his expertise to educate others in universities, institutions and conferences across the country. His focus on social and restorative justice has led him to relocate to Maine to train others on restorative justice practices.
For information or to request a reasonable accommodation, contact Abby Spooner, um.fhc.pd@maine.edu; 207.338.8002. Participants may be eligible for funding from the Harold Alfond Center for the Advancement of Maine’s Workforce. Learn more here.
More information about upcoming professional development programs, including how to register, is online. Need-based scholarships are available. Early registration is recommended as spots are limited.
About the Hutchinson Center:
The Hutchinson Center is an outreach center for the University of Maine in Orono that serves as an educational and cultural center for the midcoast area. It is named for University of Maine President Emeritus Frederick E. Hutchinson. The mission of the Hutchinson Center is to broaden access to University of Maine academic and non-degree programs and services, lifelong learning opportunities, and professional and career development experiences using innovative approaches that increase synergy among University of Maine System entities, University of Maine departments and divisions, and that engage a wider Maine community.
About the University of Maine:
The University of Maine, founded in Orono in 1865, is the state’s land grant, sea grant and space grant university, with a regional campus at the University of Maine at Machias. UMaine is located on Marsh Island in the homeland of the Penobscot Nation. UMaine Machias is located in the homeland of the Passamaquoddy Nation. As Maine’s flagship public university, UMaine has a statewide mission of teaching, research and economic development, and community service. UMaine is the state’s only public research university and among the most comprehensive higher education institutions in the Northeast. It attracts students from all 50 states and 81 countries. UMaine currently enrolls 11,989 undergraduate and graduate students, and UMaine Machias enrolls 747 undergraduates. Our students have opportunities to participate in groundbreaking research with world-class scholars. UMaine offers more than 100 degree programs through which students can earn master’s, doctoral or professional science master’s degrees, as well as graduate certificates. UMaine Machias offers 18 degree programs. The university promotes environmental stewardship, with substantial efforts campuswide to conserve energy, recycle and adhere to green building standards in new construction. For more information about UMaine and UMaine Machias, visit umaine.edu and machias.edu.
