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There are many resources available on the Web for people starting restorative programs. The programs differ, and they are specific to their context, but they may serve as useful guides to others.

Over 3000 community conflicts in Scotland are resolved through Community Mediation each year. The NGO Sacro has developed a series of manuals for developing a Community Mediation service. The final manual addresses the role of community mediation in fostering community development. In this article, Ian McDonough, mediation adviser for Sacro, provides an overview of the manual with a link to the full-text.

The model for data collection in Scotland attempts to combine both qualitative and quantitative assessments of a particular interaction so that the full experience is documented uniformly but with the individual focus of the restorative justice ethic.

From the International Institute for Restorative Practices e-Forum: The International Institute for Restorative Practices has compiled a 36-page booklet of findings from schools in the United States, England and Canada that are implementing restorative practices.

The paper will have three main sections: the mediation process, victim-sensitive administration, and principles and standards; but I will begin with a case history. It comes from the Handshake Project (Projekt Handschlag) in Reutlingen, in southern Germany, the oldest victim/offender mediation service in Germany, established in 1985. (excerpt)

From Sarah Karp's article in Catalyst Chicago: In Chicago’s public schools, African-American males are suspended and expelled at a higher rate than any other student group. Yet educators are working to raise black male graduation rates, creating a classic case of policy and practice at odds.

These guidelines address family group decision making as a critical practice within child welfare agencies and community-based agencies that work with public child welfare systems. In developing these guidelines, American Humane recognizes that standing alone, FGDM cannot result in better outcomes for children and families. Other parts of the child welfare system must change in ways that are consistent with the principles stated above. FGDM cannot simply be “added” to child welfare services — the principles, philosophy and practice approach must be integrated throughout the child welfare system to improve the safety, permanency and well-being outcomes for children and the well-being of families. (excerpt)

from the article by Chris Meehan at crnca.org: ...."Restorative justice provides another way," said Lamsma. "Where retributive justice is concerned with violation against the state, restorative justice is first and foremost concerned with the person or people who were harmed in a crime . . . Restorative justice aims for healing of victims, for communities affected, and even for offenders, in the hopes that a cycle of destructive behavior will be broken."

Australian Indigenous experiences of family and sexual violence have received much media and government attention since 2006. Three state government reports into the problem have been published in this time. These reports highlighted the disproportionate incidence of sexual assault and family violence within Indigenous communities and the many complexities associated with such experiences. They also illustrated that Indigenous communities are actively considering pathways forward for healing and for justice for victims, their families, and the broader kin network who inevitably feel the ripple effects of such violence. Increasingly, international examples of pathways forward are being considered for their applicability in the Australian Indigenous context. This paper critically examines the international case study ofthe Community Holistic Circle Healing process developed by the community of Hollow Water, Canada. Australian Indigenous family violence reports since 1999 have identified this process as an example of best practice in the management of sexual violence in Indigenous communities and have recommended that similar such models and processes be considered for implementation in Australia. This paper critically examines the program in its own context and reflects on the feasibility of its transference into the very different geographic, social, cultural, political and spiritual contexts of Australian Indigenous communities. (author's abstract)

A former official from the Thames Valley Police discusses his history with restorative justice and how the force used it to address neighborhood disputes. The author says that integral to using restorative justice effectively was communicating clearly and strategically with the public. He highlights some of the difficulties that may hamper communication and some of the strengths that may make restorative justice more palatable to the public, and then presents tactics to aid the dialogue between advocates and the public.