Center for Community Justice

The Center for Community Justice empowers Elkhart County by using Restorative Justice to heal the harm caused by crime, strengthen conflict resolution skills, and engage a stronger community. The Center for Community Justice is rooted in the principles of Restorative Justice, assisting Elkhart County through Restorative Mediation and Facilitation, Restorative Reentry work and Restorative Training.

The basic principles of Restorative Justice are:

• Wrong doing/misconduct is in reality a violation of people and interpersonal relationships.
• Violating relationships results in obligations to repair the harm created.
• These obligations need to be met in order for people to move forward in a healthy way.

Mission Statement
The Center for Community Justice is transforming communities of Elkhart County through Restorative Justice.

Our Vision
Vibrant communities – Safe, just, and engaged.

The Center for Community Justice serves Elkhart County by providing programs, based on the principles of Restorative Justice, which strengthen community safety, provide support and compensation for victims, aid in the restoration of offenders, and promote reconciliation among victims, offenders, and the community.

CCJ offers seven quality programs and one class all rooted in principles of restorative justice.   These include not only victim-offender reconciliation, but mediation in civil, criminal, family, divorce, landlord-tenant, and other matters; community service opportunities for offenders and victim impact panels to make the consequences of drunk driving “real” to offenders.  CCJ served 4,200 people last year and will continue to grow with your support.

Our programs give offenders the opportunity to take responsibility for their actions, and give the victims a voice in our criminal justice system.  CCJ originated with Victim Offender Reconciliation Program (VORP) in 1977 by an Elkhart County juvenile probation officer who discovered the program operating in Canada.  VORP quickly outgrew the resources of the probation department and joined a regional organization called Prisoners and Community Together (PACT) in 1979, and Elkhart County PACT was born.  Following this, Community Service Restitution Program (CSRP) began.