We continue to have rewarding and appreciative responses from our Making Peace Workshop and are excited to share the updated referral form at this link.
As more partners who work with youth — especially Youth Aid Panels and Juvenile Probation — are working in-person, Making Peace is an incredibly valuable resource to build communication and conflict resolution skills in every family.
Parents find crucial support for challenging situations they face with their teenage youth (ages 12-17). And the youth also get to discuss and practice creating alternative outcomes to their own challenging situations with family and peers.
Do you or someone you know see an opportunity for this powerful Saturday-morning experience to support parents and their teenagers? For more on this workshop click here.
By Jake Rauchberg
There was a buzz in the room. Between my excitement for my first Advoz program and the white noise engulfing the space, I could barely hear myself think. But it wasn’t the sort of buzz that you normally hear when you walk into a church on the weekend. Not the white noise that gleefully fills the air with chatter and smiling faces greeting you. In fact, it was the opposite: mouths shut and arms crossed–utter silence. The only real buzz in the room was from the air conditioning unit drowning out unspoken feelings of apathy and resistance.
Then, as we embarked on the two-and-a-half hour parent workshop for Making Peace, I watched in awe at how the facilitators took a room full of discord and made discourse.
Though Making Peace was a just a brief snippet of my summer internship with Advoz, what I experienced in those two-and-a-half hours redefined how I look at conflict, communication and community building. In a matter of moments, the facilitators were able to tackle conflict head-on and establish a workshop that invited open and honest dialogue among unenthusiastic participants (and even myself!).
My summer experience showed me that change can happen on all levels. Whether it was watching the power of a one-on-one victim-offender conference allow an individual to see promise in their future, or observing the progression of a Making Peace workshop create small but meaningful moments to inspire a change in the relationships between parents and their children; I learned that resolution comes in many shapes and sizes.
My summer with Advoz taught me that in all conflict, there is opportunity for change, no matter where I end up I know that the values I learned in my Advoz summer are ones that I can take into the future. Thank you to all who gave me such a memorable summer — staff, volunteers and yes, the buzzing, open-minded families in that Making Peace workshop.
Jake Rauchberg is a rising senior at Franklin and Marshall College and just completed his summer internship with Advoz through the Ware Center for Civic Engagement.
LEARN TO FACILITATE RESTORATIVE JUSTICE
Advoz is welcoming you to participate in their spring 2019 Restorative Justice Training Conference. Both volunteers and business professionals will engage in training that encourages face-to-face restorative justice with both youth and adult offenders and those they’ve harmed. Throughout the sessions, trainees will practice Advoz’s three-step restorative justice conferencing process through role plays and learn about the justice system, the victim-offender conferencing process, victim’s rights and needs, ethics and crucial communication skills.
The intensive 35-hr training takes place between September 9 to October 19:
- Monday, September 9, 6 – 9 pm
- Wednesday, September 11, 6 – 9 pm
- Thursday, September 12, 6 – 9 pm
- Saturday, September 14th, 9 am – 5 pm
With interim online training until the final week:
- Monday, October 14, 6 – 9 pm
- Wednesday, October 16, 6 – 9 pm
- Thursday, October 17, 6 – 9 pm
- Saturday, October 19, 9 am – 5 pm
The fee for those planning to volunteer for the Advoz Restorative Justice conferencing program is $95, which covers the cost of training and materials, refreshments and professional leadership. Scholarships are available by contacting mila@advoz.org.
For those planning to use the training for professional development purposes, a fee of $375 will cover CLEs for attorneys or CEUs for social workers, training and materials, refreshments and professional leadership.
Those applying at the volunteer/scholarship rate must fill out the volunteer form as well.
Location: Millersville University Bolger Conference Center, 30 James Street, Millersville, PA
If you would like to volunteer in this program, complete both of the following forms by the deadlines listed to receive the volunteer rate.
If you are taking this training for professional development, simply select “Complete Registration.”
Register Now
Complete Registration
Trainees will be introduced to mediation process and its benefits in both their personal and professional lives. Communication and conflict resolution skills will be taught throughout the course and role play tactics will be used to help practice trainees’ newfound skills. Those who are interested in further training and mentoring can do so through Advoz afterward.
Hours are from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. on June 11th, 12th, and 13th, Thursday through Saturday.
Registration fees cover training materials, lunch, and refreshments, all while being led by experienced professional trainers. Discounts and scholarships are available.
Location : Eastern Mennonite University – Lancaster (1846 Charter Lane, Lancaster, PA 17601)
Register Now
