Healing Justice Organization Overview

From Harm to Healing We incorporate the interrelated and imperative concepts of healing and justice to address the widespread harm caused by systemic failures that result in wrongful convictions.

In our healing work, we create safe spaces and individualized support that enable us to tackle the complex grief and trauma caused by injustice, including issues of gender violence, racial inequity, and social marginalization.

In our justice work, we focus on improving the justice system to prevent future harm on restoring the voices of those harmed by helping them become change-makers for reform through advocacy, technical assistance and product development.

OUR MISSION Healing Justice is a unique and fast-growing national organization that utilizes restorative justice and justice reform to provide healing to individuals and families harmed by injustice and to prevent future harm. ★ We are the only organization that addresses the individual and collective harm caused to all who are impacted by wrongful convictions. ★ We focus on the widespread human toll caused by these injustices, from the original crime victim and the wrongly convicted, to the prosecutor, law enforcement officers, and others. This holistic approach results in comprehensive impact. ★ We are led by people who have lived experience. In addition to our Founder and Executive Director, other directly impacted people serve on our staff, Board of Directors, and Advisory Boards. Every aspect of our work is guided by the people we serve. ★ We involve diverse stakeholders around the country through the provision of expert resources, training, and technical assistance.

Healing Justice’s work is led by real people with lived experiences, all of whom contribute their own unique perspectives to our goals and programs. Through all of our work we strive to restore the voices of those harmed and provide them with peer support and individual healing. We also strive to build relationships across all stakeholders to create collective healing and prevent future harm.

July 2023

OUR PROGRAMS Through the unique combination of healing and justice program services, we transform the lives and communities of those harmed and leverage their experiences to transform the justice system. Our model of transformative justice can be applied to all contexts and cases of injustice where healing is needed in order for justice to be achieved.

Healing: Group Retreats & Circles A cornerstone of our work, our group retreats and circles utilize restorative justice practices, peer support, expressive art therapy, and other trauma-recovery activities to enable individual and collective healing. Both group gatherings offer safe, nurturing, and confidential spaces for people to speak openly about their trauma and loss, provide support and understanding to one another, and learn tools for rebuilding their individual lives and families. Through this program, participants are also trained to become facilitators and leaders of healing and restorative justice in their own communities. We have hosted more than 60 group gatherings, directly serving more than 175 individuals through these activities.

Healing: Individual Support, Services & Resources Our individualized support, services, and resources supplement our group healing activities. These include: (1) responding to individual requests for assistance, such as through connecting them with specialized service providers; (2) providing peer to peer support through our trained supporters; (3) developing online resources through which individuals can seek assistance and support on their own.

(4) facilitating restorative justice events in individual cases.

Justice: Education, Training & Technical Assistance This aspect of our work involves public education as well as specialized training and technical assistance (TTA) for criminal justice professionals and social service providers at both the national and local levels. Through this work, we offer practical policy solutions for addressing systemic injustice and preventing future harm.

This work also creates opportunities for the individuals we serve to utilize their experiences to participate directly in justice reform and become leaders of change. We regularly conduct public education events and professional training, as well as provide a variety of specialized technical assistance upon request. Through these activities, we have assisted thousands of practitioners and service providers, educated countless members of the public, and touched the lives of many through policy reforms.

Justice: Listening Sessions We create unique opportunities that empower individuals by hosting listening sessions where their voices are heard and restored. These specialized listening sessions are aimed at motivating systemic change where the “listeners,” typically justice officials and policymakers, learn about needed reforms to prevent future harm through hearing from those with lived experiences. These listening sessions also promote personal agency for those harmed as they serve to lay the foundation for the creation of our program services. We have conducted 10 listening sessions to date in partnership with the US Department of Justice and the national Innocence Network.

July 2023