Joan Stein Jenkins

I director a juvenile diversion program in an unorthodox manner:  I strive to unearth and address the actual underlying reason for the offending behavior.   In essence, I focus on trying to see and hear the authentic person clearly as a first step to accepting responsibility and to creating a new more empathetic life path.  I have found that this approach prevents recidivism much more effectively than mere punishment.  The objective is  to effectively resolve criminal matter  while avoiding the tarnish and consequences that can result from contact with the criminal system.  And because this fosters restorative justice, I seek to make all the parties, the victim and the offender and the community, whole.
A young incarcerated juvenile offender  put it simply: “They always ask what’s wrong with me.  Why don’t they ever ask, what’s wrong?”   I have found  that this approach is transformative in criminal, interpersonal, school, neighborhood, and broader community disputes.