In November of 2016, the Marin County Probation Department launched its first restorative justice program. Cindy Ayala, the department’s Restorative Justice Coordinator came all the way from Canada to run the program. I recently sat down with her to learn more about her and the program she has been instrumental in bringing to life here in Marin.

Tell me about your experience with restorative justice prior to coming to the United States and why you chose to work in this field.

When I was 20, I began volunteering at a halfway house for formerly incarcerated women. I knew criminal behavior was a result of numerous factors. Very few people committed crime simply because of poor judgment. After hearing the stories from residents, it became very clear that we, as a community, were failing our own members. I later became manager of the facility and began working with different partners in the community to help create re-entry plans for each of the residents. Most of the offenders had been victimized in their own past and indeed had suffered severe trauma prior to any criminal activity. The criminal justice system had failed to address important issues and needs, while still expecting good results solely by imposing retributive measures.

I was introduced to restorative justice by a professor of mine. She was a visiting professional at the International Criminal Court in La Haye [Editor’s Note: that’s The Hague for us English speakers], and taught restorative justice and victimology at the University of Montreal. I learned of an approach that focused on meeting the needs of all parties affected by crime—victim, offender and community—and that sought to address the root causes of a criminal behavior. This approach invited those affected by what happened to participate in a dialogue on how to repair the harm caused. It would be a process where the offender takes responsibility for their actions, works to repair harm done to the victim and/or community, and takes steps to make positive life changes to stay out of the justice system. It made complete sense to me and I was hooked.

Dr. Howard Zehr, considered a pioneer of the modern concept of restorative justice, defines it as follows: “Restorative justice is a process to involve, to the extent possible, those who have a stake in an offense and to collectively identify and address harms, needs and obligations, in order to heal and put things right as possible.”

While continuing my studies, I worked for the Church Council on Justice and Corrections, and eventually moved to Ottawa, where I joined the Restorative Justice Division at the headquarters of Correctional Services Canada. Before coming to California, I was a caseworker at the Collaborative Justice Program (CJP) at the Ottawa courthouse. What made CJP an incredible place to work was that it facilitated restorative justice processes alongside the traditional criminal justice system.

At CJP, we would invite parties to participate in our program after charges were laid but before sentencing. They would have an opportunity to resolve their issues while criminal proceedings took their course. Needs such as information, reparation, restitution, communication, and accountability were met much earlier through the restorative process and the outcome of the process would be taken under consideration by the judge come sentencing time. Cases ranged from diversion-eligible cases to serious and violent offenses such as aggravated assaults, attempted murder, and DUIs causing severe bodily harm or death. Our clients were both young and adult offenders. The face-to-face meetings (aka restorative justice circles) in those cases resulted in the transformation, healing and accountability of the participants.

How is Canada's involvement with restorative justice different?

CJP is a good example of how restorative justice is being utilized in Canada: it is not an alternative to the traditional criminal justice system but an approach that works well in conjunction with it. Several provinces in Canada have been using new strategies to divert more people away from jail, using alternative programs such as restorative justice to improve outcomes for victims, reduce court backlog and ensure responsible reintegration. Canada is also a leader in research in this area and its current government has shown great support for public education on restorative justice.

Why did you take this position in Marin County?

I would be doing the work I love in sunny California, what’s there to think about? All joking aside, what interested me the most about this position was that the program did not exist yet. There was an amazing pilot project in place, but it still needed to take off. This meant that I would have an amazing opportunity and privilege to create, develop and implement a restorative justice program for adults. It was a challenge I could not ignore. Marin County would be one of the first counties to integrate a restorative justice program for adults into its criminal justice system. Since it was the early stages of developing the program, it meant that we could invite and include different stakeholders to be part of it all. The Probation Department, the District Attorney’s Office and the Public Defender’s Office would all be involved in a collaborative process. This would ensure that the program truly reflected both the needs of the county and the community. All would have a stake in it and all want to see it succeed. Those were inviting circumstances.

What do you hope to achieve in Marin County?

One is to educate our community on restorative justice and its benefits. A study in the UK stated, “There is more evidence on restorative justice, more positive results, than there has been for many other policies and for most innovations in criminal justice that has [sic] ever been rolled out nationally.” For example, studies, including meta-analyses, show that restorative justice can have a positive impact on re-offending rates. Some programs can be up to 25 percent more effective than the traditional criminal justice system with respect to recidivism and California has a rate that is among the highest in the nation: just over 65 percent of those released from the prison system return within three years. Restorative justice reduces crime and consequently provides a cost savings to government.

People often ask me why a victim would want to participate in a restorative justice process. There are many reasons: wanting restitution, to hold the offender accountable, to have them hear of the ripple effects and pain they caused, to avoid court proceedings, to learn more about what happened, to make sure the offender is taking concrete steps to change his or her life, even to help the offender. And when they do participate, there are consistently high satisfaction rates for victims, up to 98 percent! The overall perception of the criminal justice system is also more positive for participants when they have been part of a restorative process. They feel that the system has been fair to them and they are satisfied with the outcomes. They also feel they were heard and had more of a say when it comes to the kind of “justice” obtained. So it may not be surprising that post-traumatic stress symptoms drop significantly when victims (and even offenders who show signs) participate in a restorative justice process. Offenders are also more likely to pay restitution when they are accountable to the victim through a restorative justice process compared to restitution mandated directly by the courts.

Restorative justice is not the answer to every case; however, it does offer an option for those still searching for answers that the current justice system is simply not built to provide. I was encouraged to see individuals from different departments willing to support this initiative and I hope that “restorative justice” becomes part of the vocabulary we use in this county when discussing ways to respond to crime. Restorative justice is not just a program, it is also a set of principles we can all adhere to in our everyday lives. We can choose to behave in a more restorative way with our neighbors, our colleagues, our families and friends. We can work on restoring broken relationships and prioritizing people rather than throwing them away. Restorative justice is all about humanizing justice and simply reassuring our fellow citizens that we hear and see them.

Cindy Ayala holds a BA in criminology from the University of Montreal, and a degree in addiction studies. In her spare time, she enjoys meeting new people and traveling; she has been to 18 different countries and plans to travel to two more this year. You can reach her at CAyala@marincounty.org.