Jesuit Social Services established The Men’s Project to provide leadership on the reduction of violence and other harmful behaviours prevalent among boys and men, and build new approaches to improve their wellbeing and keep families and communities safe.
RESTORE assists young people and their families to address the harm caused by family violence
The Men’s Project has partnered with the Victorian Children’s Court to develop the RESTORE program, which uses a restorative justice approach to work with young people who are using family violence. The program will assist the young person and their family to address the harm caused and prevent further violence.
Both Jesuit Social Services and the Children’s Court had identified a gap for a program which offers an alternative to punitive responses which are not appropriate to all cases of adolescent family violence, particularly early on in the cycle of offending.
Michael Livingstone, Executive Director of The Men’s Project says “RESTORE plays an important part in responding to an issue where the majority of young people who come before the Children’s Court as respondents to family violence orders are boys, and there is a clear gap in program responses to this issue”.
Michael believes the collaborative program model will see benefits for all involved. “In a safe and controlled way, you get the relevant parties together – the young person, family members, lawyers and other support services – and you allow everyone to talk through what’s been happening, and talk through what they are going to do to try and make things better and keep people safe,” he says.
To find out more, visit: www.themensproject.org.au
