Stewards Among Us: Restoring Justice

Loni Kaleiwahea is a long time parishioner at Saint Patrick Catholic Church and she is a steward among us.

Shaping the Restorative Justice Process

In a recent article, in the magazine Northwest Catholic you might have read about the Peacemaking Coordinating Team and how about 200 people — including employees from the Seattle Archdiocese, Catholics from local parishes, including Kim Ward, parishioners and Pastoral Associate for Faith Formation at Saint Patrick Catholic Church, leaders from protestant churches, the Seattle’s Greater Church Council, several judges from New Zealand and community leaders attended a hearing at the King County Juvenile Court in Seattle on October 6, 2016 which was resolved through the community Peacemaking Circle, where the court accepted all the recommendations, in what was the first of three pilot cases.

Honoring 30+ Years of Service

Loni is part a restorative justice process in Tacoma with parallels to the one being piloted in Seattle. Loni is the Diversion Coordinator at Pierce County Juvenile Court also know as Remann Hall, located on 6th Avenue just off Pearl Street.  In October 2016, Loni was honored for her 30 years of dedicated service at Pierce County Juvenile Court in the Diversion Unit.

Her Work is Restorative

Loni has been serving youth and their families for much longer than 30 years.  She began her work in restorative justice as a volunteer.  Her own difficult youth life partially led her to this journey— a journey of faith— faith in God and faith in the kids and families she serves each and every day. It is her faith that helped her bring hope to countless families over the past three decades and she plan on continuing to do just that, for the rest of her life in one way or another. Loni is not one who needs time away from her job to feel re-energized.  She feels her work itself is energizing and restorative not just for the youth she guides but herself too.  She doesn’t see it as work— it is her life long mission to help youth and their families find restorative justice with the help of their community.

What is Diversion?

Many juveniles referred to Juvenile Court are offenders who commit offenses such as shoplifting, malicious mischief or possession of alcohol. These youth may be eligible for an alternative to formal court processing known as diversion. The Diversion Unit that Loni coordinates, screens youth by seriousness of offense, age, and prior history, and then schedules youth for an appropriate group seminar/class (group advisement), Community Accountability Board (CAB) or individual appointment.  In return the offenders don’t have a record and are not detained. If they refuse, they go into the system.

Why Diversion?

Diversion has played a key role in improving outcomes and rehabilitating youth offenders. The concept of diversion is based on the theory that processing youth through the juvenile justice system may do more harm than good.

The diversion program results in significantly lower recidivism rates, posssibly because the youth are not being hardened by the influenced by more serious criminals in a juvenile detention center and instead are talking with community members who show genuine care and compassion for them and their family and a desire to help the them realize their potential to be contributing members of the community.

Volunteers are Essential

The mission of diversion is to engage community members in responding to the needs of crime victims, the community, and those who violated the law, by holding the latter accountable in a manner that promotes responsible behavior.

Volunteers are essential to the success of diversion programs. Training is provided to prepare volunteers to follow a restorative justice approach and take on a meaningful role in this community-based justice program.

Do You Know a Steward Among Us?

Saint Patrick Catholic Church has many parishioners doing great things for others and for the parish. Loni’s son, Hayden was recognized as a steward among us in July 2016.   Help us profile parishioners who are living as everyday stewards among us. Stewardship lifts up our parish community and we want to give thanks for the gifts of such good people. Send us an email and let us know about the stewards among us.