RJ WEEK 2020 - Flipbook - Page 8
COVID CHALLENGES
Covid-19 has had a dramatic effect on daily life and has affected what
people can and can’t do at work. Our organisation, like many others, has
not been immune from these effects and we have had to adapt
accordingly.
The lockdown has caused us to challenge our traditional ways of working
and to look at alternative and innovative ways of working whilst still
trying to achieve the same outcomes.
WORKING WITH PEOPLE
An example of this was when I was dealing with a young offender for disorderly behaviour which
resulted in damage to furniture outside a restaurant. As a result of working with the offender he
came to understand the impact he and his friends caused the restaurant staff, the customers of the
establishment and how they affected the running of that business. As a result of these realisations
the offender indicated that he wanted to apologise in person. Given that we were on lockdown it
was not possible or safe in the traditional sense of restorative justice to get them both in a room
together to discuss the incident and the impacts and to apologise.
After preparation and with agreement of both parties I conducted a video face to face meeting
using WhatsApp. The meeting went better than I expected, there were no technical glitches and
the video and call quality was very clear. The offender spoke to the manager of the restaurant and
took responsibility for his actions, apologised for damaging the furniture, assured the manager
that sort of behaviour would not be repeated and offered to pay for the damage he had caused.
We were only able to achieve this outcome by
being bold and trying something different and
not letting fear of failure deter us from obtaining the best outcome for our service users and
we will strive to continue to do so.
Gary.Herbert@remediuk.org / Gary.Herbert@remediuk.cjsm.net
Gary07421 272032