GCC is reflecting on 2025, grateful for the opportunities that you, our donors, collaborators, and friends, have afforded us. We’d like to highlight the work we are entrusted to do within Athens-Clarke County’s legal system.

Mikhayla Smith manages GCC’s Restorative Justice Diversion partnership with the Western Judicial Circuit’s District Attorney’s office where she receives youth cases vetted by legal professionals.

“I invite questions from people, regardless of where they they stand politically,” Mikhayla says, “because in the overwhelming majority of cases, RJ diversion works — repairing harm, increasing accountability, trust and safety in communities.”  

After a 3-year partnership with the DA’s office, GCC’s data shows a recidivism rate around 4 percent among those youth who agreed to a restorative process whereby they faced the people they harmed and completed a plan to make things right.

Other communities are also finding better outcomes for offenders, victims and overall community safety, like Florida’s Second Judicial Circuit. Janelle Edens, executive director of Connection First, Inc., sums up the power and impact of their program:  

Restorative Justice is not soft on crime. It is structured accountability. The person responsible must voluntarily take responsibility, and the person harmed has the opportunity—if they choose—to share the impact. Together, they craft a specific agreement to repair the harm as much as possible. This model has been shown to reduce recidivism, increase victim satisfaction, and create safer outcomes for communities.

In less than two years since operating the circuit’s Restorative Justice program, Connection First has facilitated nearly 30 conferences with a 100% completion rate once a conference is scheduled. The feedback speaks to the power of the model: one participant shared that “it allowed our family to communicate together about what happened.” Another said, “Knowing how I truly made others feel—it changed the way I see myself and my actions.”

We’d love to include you as a new or returning donor during the last few days of our Winter Campaign! Your gift will help us increase case management and increased awareness of restorative options for community members.  

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