Seward Longfellow Restorative Justice Partnership

"Promoting Reconciliation and Healing Within Our Youth and Our Community"

Created in October 2004 as a community initiative, the Seward Longfellow Restorative Justice Partnership is a collaboration of the Seward Neighborhood Group (SNG), Longfellow Community Council (LCC) and neighborhood residents. Our goal is to facilitate juvenile-focused restorative practices by involving the victim, juvenile offender and community in solutions that repair harm and promote healing, accountability, and reconciliation.

Youth Diversion

We provide first-time juvenile offenders in our community diversion from court. We use a group conferencing model that involves the offender, a parent or guardian, the victim and community members to develop a plan with the youth for understanding and repairing the harm caused by the youth. We receive referrals from the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) and Operation DeNovo, a court diversion program, for offenses in the entire 55406 zip code.

Teen Scene Circle of Support

The Longfellow Park circle has met every other week since June 2006 and the Matthews Park circle has met every other week since January 2007. Eight to 12 youth attend each circle. Teens participating in the circle say, "We get to know each other." And, "The circle helps me to talk to other people, because I normally keep things to myself".

Peacemaking Circles

In April of 2007 we established an adult Community Circle open to all community members who want to build neighborly relations, tell their story, problem solve, and be a resource for victims of crime and parents in our neighborhoods. The circle meets monthly with 5-7 people in attendance. The circle has been a resource to resolve several community conflicts.

Growing Restorative Practices

We offer demonstration circles for church groups, tenant groups, block clubs, and community groups in an effort to seed a culture of restorative practices in the Seward and Greater Longfellow neighborhoods. We build community support networks for our program by developing youth leadership, educating our neighborhoods about restorative practices, training volunteers, strengthening relationships with youth focused resources, and building relationships of mutual respect and support with our police and juvenile justice systems.

For further information:

For more information and to find out how you can get involved, contact Program Manager Michele Braley at michele@sng.org or 612-338-6205 x108. Or visit our website at sng.org.