3.4 Formal Conferences

Formal conferences are more commonly used when responsibility has been accepted and the harm done to others has been acknowledged. Some formal conferences involve all parties including members of the school community and parents, while others may be limited to the offender, or the person(s) harmed, or both and include their respective supporters.

It is not always appropriate or necessary to hold a full conference, particularly when impromptu conferences or informal processes provide for an appropriate and quick resolution, but if the incident is serious enough, the time and planning required by a formal conference is justified.

There are typically three types of formal restorative conferences:

1. Formal conferences include a structured formal process that involves students, parents, and staff. Wrongdoers are held accountable for their actions, those harmed are given a voice and agreements are made to address needs, repair harms and prevent future wrongdoing. A facilitator uses a script to guide participants through the conference. Formal responses to wrongdoing are documented. This type of conference can take a significant amount of time to organize and carry out and is facilitated by someone who has not been directly involved.
2. Family group conferences are events where decisions and plans need to be made about a student’s status in the school. There is a high level of family involvement and even family friends may be invited if they are influencers. There are 3 parts to a family conference:
   1. The facilitator and/or school and school community representatives outline the problem, which may have legal ramifications, and the various resources available.
   2. “Family alone time” follows, and the school and other “officials” leave the room, allowing the family time and privacy to discuss and develop their own response, which will sometimes be a written plan for remediation and restorative action.
   3. The “officials” return to the room and the family outlines its response, which may include explaining their written plan. These types of conferences are more common in social welfare and juvenile justice environments, but are being used more often in the school to deal with ongoing behavioral difficulties, truancy, and bullying, either by the offender or to the students who have been harmed. The family conference may be considered as an alternative to moving directly to suspension or expulsion.
3. Re-entry conferences are a type of formal restorative practice. In a re-entry conference, the purpose is to reintegrate a student or students back into the school and classroom after a counseling office referral or school suspension, in order to re-establish the connection with the school and community.

In all cases, documented follow-up is required. Monitoring of ongoing behavior and the application of the agreed upon resolution and restitution are necessary for the restorative process to be effective, and to be seen as effective by participants and the school community.

Restorative Conference Script

Formal conferences should be facilitated by a trained third party; someone who has not been involved in the incident. The facilitator uses a script to guide the meeting, and abridged versions of the formal conference script can be used in restorative circles or less formal processes as well. Prior to the formal conference, the facilitator should distribute a list of the ground rules for the conference to all those who will be attending.

The following is a sample script blueprint. Each of the numbered headings is an important element that should be included in any restorative conference script.

1. Welcome and instruction – The facilitator welcomes everyone to the conference and acknowledges each person by name. He or she then briefly outlines the discipline issue and impresses upon participants that their role is to discuss what happened, not the character of anyone involved. Before participants are invited to talk about how individuals may have been affected by what happened, the facilitator reminds them of the ground rules that were provided (and discussed if time and opportunity has permitted this) prior to the conference. The rules are intended to ensure that the conference can be conducted safely and respectfully (these may include talking in turn, listening to others and not interrupting, no shouting or abusive language, respect for everyone involved, etc.). At this point the facilitator should get verbal acknowledgement from all participants that they understand and agree to the meeting rules.
2. Get commitment from the offender – The facilitator should make it clear to the person (or persons) who is (are) considered the offender(s), that they do not have to participate, and if he or she (or they) choose not to, the matter will be dealt with in another way within the school disciplinary policy or the legal system. Preferably this is handled prior to the beginning of a formal conference but sometimes it is not, or cannot be done in advance. Even if it has, the facilitator prompts the offender(s) to commit to finalizing an outcome by participating voluntarily in the process.
3. Affective statements and questions – Using affective statements and questions, the facilitator has the offender(s) address the following questions:
   1. What happened?
   2. What were you thinking at the time?
   3. What have you thought about this since the incident?
   4. Who do you think has been affected?
   5. How have they been affected?
4. Victim participation – The individuals affected by the incident, be they one or more, are also prompted to participate through affective statements and questions. The facilitator should ask the following questions:
   1. What was your reaction at the time?
   2. How do you feel about what happened?
   3. What has been the harm you feel you have suffered?
   4. How do you think others (e.g., family, other students) have been affected, and what were their reactions?
5. Supporters – Now it is time for the supporters of both the offender(s) and victim(s) to express their feelings. It is important to keep the focus on the main issues and the feelings of the participants in the incident, and avoid having other issues seep into the discussion. The facilitator keeps the conversation on point, directing the discussion when necessary toward a potential agreement on restorative actions.
6. Coming to agreement – Once everyone has had the opportunity to be heard, it is time to make a contract. By focusing the discussion on what the participants would like to see come from the meeting, the offender(s) and victim(s) will feel supported in stating what they believe to be an appropriate resolution, ranging anywhere from what the offender(s) believes they have learned and the choices they would make in future, to restitution or other restorative steps to repair the relationships and satisfy the feelings and/or needs of the person(s) harmed.

Whenever possible, the outcome should be documented, forming a written contract between the offender(s), victim(s), school and community. This may take some time, and presents the facilitator with an opportunity to allow everyone to take some time to reflect on what has been said while the document is created. It should be read to the group, and participants should be asked to confirm that they all understand what the contract requires. The facilitator asks for any final comments from participants before closing the meeting. An informal period after the meeting has officially concluded is recommended, to allow for the tension to ease and the participants to communicate with one another and bond around the process and the outcome.

The Restorative Interventions Implementation Toolkit provided by the Minnesota Department of Education includes a sample contract you can use for guidance in preparing your own document template.