The First Unitarian Universalist Society in Newton (FUUSN) hosts a monthly free lunch with a different social-action speaker each month at FUUSN (1326 Washington Street, West Newton). At noon on February 9, the speaker will be Yael Yaaloz, Program Director at Communities for Restorative Justice (C4RJ).
From FUUSN:
Yael Yaaloz will speak about her work as Program Director at Communities for Restorative Justice (C4RJ). This program is a significant direction for the Newton community on many fronts. The Newton Police Department has participated with this organization for many years. It is changing the culture of policing and moving toward rehabilitation and away from incarceration.
Another aspect of this work is in schools. With C4RJ, rather than using suspensions, teachers look for the anxiety under the problems that students exhibit. They work with each student to resolve the issues with which they are struggling. Suspensions cause more harm and isolate a student from the school community. Teachers find that it often takes many weeks before a student can integrate back into school life after being required to leave school because of something they did or said. The teacher also can teach about positive behaviors that will help all students to be part of the responsible school community.
Yael Yaaloz is the Program Director at Communities for Restorative Justice (C4RJ). She completed her studies in Conflict Resolution and Coexistence as well as a Non-Profit MBA at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management. She is passionate about the principles of restorative practice and uses her experience in leadership and peacebuilding to uplift the work of restorative justice. Yael joined the C4RJ team during the Spring of 2020.
