Youth Justice Initiative

The mission of Youth Justice Initiative (YJI) is to provide and sustain restorative processes with youth in our community that promote healing, increase accountability and provide support. The YJI program was developed to provide a better solution to the ever growing numbers of repeat juvenile offenders.

The Wes Des Moines Youth Justice Initiative is a community - based participatory restorative justice process. YJI engages crime victims and community members in the justice process, holding young offenders directly accountable to the people and community they have harmed, restoring as far as possible the losses of victims and providing a range of opportunities for dialoging and problem solving whenever possible, which can lead to a greater sense of community safety, social harmony and peace for all.