About 90 percent of juvenile offenders who participate in Lutheran Social Services' restorative justice program never commit a crime again, Director of Youth Interventions Joel Friesz said.

The success, he said, is due in large part to the program's way of "getting to the root of the problem."

Restorative justice is a timeless philosophy of crime response, Friesz said. It works to create empathy and understanding between victims and offenders to ultimately promote peace and prevent recidivism.

"Too often we focus on consequence for crime-if someone commits a crime, we give them a jail sentence," said Attorney Rhiannon Gorham from the Grand Forks County Public Defender's office. "And that doesn't help because then we just get in the cycle of crime-consequence, crime-consequence. I think we need to start using preventative measures and stop crime before it gets committed and not just be reactionary."

LSS has provided youth restorative justice programs for almost 20 years across North Dakota. They partner with the juvenile justice system to offer offender-based solutions in the form of victim empathy seminars and victim-initiated accountability conferences.

Gorham said the victim empathy seminars serve a vital role in sentencing because they address consequences, rehabilitation and prevent recidivism.

The seminars, which often are held at LSS offices across the state, are sometimes court mandated. Gorham said sentences are sometimes reduced so an offender can participate in the programs sooner.

"I think it's important to get into those programs shortly after the incident occurs," she said. "I think then the emotions and the details and everything that went on and being able to process that information as soon as you can get into the program is very helpful rather than going into this class and saying 'six months ago this happened, what was I feeling then?'"

Friesz said LSS gears most of their programs toward kids with the intention of impacting before they reach adulthood to prevent them from entering the correctional system.

"We're looking at preventative measures rather than reactionary measures, and one of the ways to do that is to educate people when they're younger," Gorham said.

The National Institute of Justice reports slightly more than three of every four incarcerated adults across the country will commit another crime within five years of release. Their criminal records can prevent them from accessing job or housing opportunities, leading them to return to a cycle of crime. Gorham said offenders who are raised around crime often perpetuate those actions as adults.

"In trying to break the cycle and teach parents to be better parents than their own parents were to them, or teach spouses to be better than maybe their parents were to each other. I think having that empathy is a big part of that education process," she said.

LSS does not have statistics about the effectiveness of restorative justice on adult offenders, but said the success rate nationally is lower than it is with minors. Juvenile offenders are less likely to become repeat offenders even without restorative justice. Only 15 percent of juvenile offenders in North Dakota entered into the system again, according to a 2018 overview of the juvenile justice system.

LSS began offering a restorative justice program for victims of adult offenders in 2010, Friesz said. Victims can initiate a facilitated meeting with offenders. Gorham said this can be helpful for both parties-the victim is able to see that the assailant is remorseful, which can help them heal, and the offender is able to apologize and understand the consequences of their actions. A similar program also is offered to minors.

Gorham said she wishes there were more restorative justice opportunities for adults. The Community Violence Intervention Center offers a program for adults convicted of domestic violence offenses, but no other established restorative justice initiatives for adults exist within the county.

Friesz is passionate about restorative justice and believes at least some of the nation's corrections problems can be solved by reaching out to young offenders to prevent them from getting caught in a criminal cycle.

"For me, restorative justice holds the most promise for us to create a safe and peaceful community," he said.