While the Flathead Valley justice system is currently overflowing with offenders, the Center for Restorative Youth Justice is actively working to help the next generation avoid a life aligned with the legal system.

Shareen Springer is the executive director of the Center for Restorative Youth Justice, which helps about 400 youths a year reconnect with school and family and avoid reverting back to the juvenile justice system. She said one of the keys to restorative justice programs is separating the young people from the problems that they found in unsupported environments.

“It’s that feeling that you’re part of something bigger than yourself and that you can be part of a community that’s doing good things,” Springer said. “I think that’s a pretty big part of transformation with kids.”

Springer is quick to defer credit for the organization’s success. There are seven staffers, while the crew of volunteers can run from 20 to 30 throughout the year.

“Our staff are amazing,” she said. “An important part of our work here is that everyone feels safe to be themselves and takes care of each other.”

Springer grew up in Kalispell and attended college at Oregon University in 2002, where she got her undergraduate degree. She said she has been involved in some form of social justice work since she was 15.

When she returned to Kalispell in 2009, she was hired on as the youth program coordinator at the center. Just eight months later, she took the executive director position just as the organization was shifting away from peer court and focusing entirely on restorative youth justice programs.

One approach Springer pushed for from her administrative role was to begin surveying data on kids who had passed through the center. In a joint effort with the local probation office, the Center is able to monitor the juvenile justice system to look for past offenders and see whether the severity of the new offense has heightened, like a violent crime, or lowered, like a tobacco citation.

Springer said since beginning to track former known youths in the justice system, she’s found that the center’s restorative justice methods can cut the number of second offenders in half.

“We’ve reduced the chance that they’ll commit another offense by 50 percent if they come through CRYJ,” she said.

Bri Lescher, restorative justice specialist and probation contact, said she works with about 60-80 juveniles referred from the probation office each month. Springer and staff also work with “drop-ins,” kids who were referred by their teachers or friends. Last year, the center worked with more than 200 drop ins.

It’s significant for an organization to know these numbers, especially one that relies almost entirely on grants and federal funding. The extra work to obtain funding, paired with hundreds of youth coming from desperate places can be heavy, but the transformation lightens the burden on staff.

“It’s really easy to see the effects through kids,” Lescher said. “It doesn’t make it feel as gloomy when you’re seeing kids really get a benefit and feel more successful in their own lives.”

Springer credited the collaboration with the probation and the switch to restorative justice methods, especially the victim-offender conference. The meeting usually includes the offender, their parent, a staff member, a volunteer and the victim. Springer said the conference has been instrumental in reducing the chance for second offenses.

“Its a big part of our recipe for success. Even that conversation on itself can be life changing,” Springer said.

The victim-offender conference generally pairs with a follow-up conversation with mentors at the Center for Restorative Youth Justice. Springer said the staff asks the kids things like, “What are you walking away from this with? What kind of person do you want to be now? What are your goals in school and how can we help you be the best version of that?”

It’s a heavyweight conversation for a high-school aged kid already struggling to connect at school or one that doesn’t have positive interactions at home, Springer said. She said it’s about opening that conversation in an open-minded way, at an opportune time to begin designing a more constructive lifestyle.

“We separate the kids from the behavior. You don’t make it about shaming that person. We are a whole people, we’ve all made mistakes,” Springer said.

At the Center for Restorative Youth Justice kids get the chance to start new behaviors. Since taking over the space in the KM Building, the organization has begun growing and preparing food at the location, while before they would migrate between church kitchens in Kalispell to cook meals. Three days a week, a handful of kids work with the staff on community gardens in the area. They’re also in the middle of a fundraiser with a $1,000 goal to finance a stove and ventilation system for a more complete culinary experience.

In the seven years Springer has been involved with the organization, she said she’s seen a recurring sign of change in kids who spend time with the staff. They often arrive with their hood pulled over their head, physically bracing for someone to lecture them on past mistakes. But as time goes on, kids participate in activities with other kids, interact with adults they’re just getting to know and, one day, the hood is down when the kid leaves for the day.

“It’s kind of the moment of change,” Springer said. “That’s the moment that feels really special.”

Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at slarson@dailyinterlake.com.