IIRP Canada director Bruce Schenk is quoted in this article about the dramatic decline in suspensions in Durham public schools, a result of the province's Safe Schools Act and the implementation of restorative practices. Bruce is an adviser to the Durham public school board. Read the article here »

The November/December issue of Scholastic Administrator, a major national U.S. education magazine, features an in-depth article on restorative practices in schools. The article quotes IIRP president Ted Wachtel and IIRP director and assistant director of training and consulting, Bob Costello and John Bailie, as well as Richard Hollahan, principal of Newtown (Pennsylvania) Middle School and Russell Gallagher, assistant principal of West Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) High School. It also discusses restorative practices implementation, philosophy and effectiveness. Read the article here.

The 11th IIRP World Conference, "Restoring Community in a Disconnected World," was held October 22-24, 2008, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 516 participants from 16 countries attended, including those from 10 Canadian provinces and territories and 17 of the continental United States. This interdisciplinary conference, featuring 120 breakout sessions, provided an international perspective on restorative practices theory and practice in a variety of settings, from education to social welfare to criminal justice.

On June 21, 2008, the International Institute for Restorative Practices Graduate School held its first commencement ceremony, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA. Dr. John Braithwaite, a major force in the restorative justice movement, gave the commencement address. This article by Laura Mirsky includes ceremony highlights.

This article by Laura Mirsky includes a history of CSF's programs for youth, as well as the International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP), plus interview selections from former CSF students and long-term CSF staff members.

This report on the conference, which took place in Budapest, Hungary, on November 7-9, 2007, is by Borbála Fellegi, a Ph.D. Researcher in social policy and criminology at Eötvös Loránd (ELTE) University, Budapest, Hungary, and is available in both English and Hungarian.

About 350 participants from 18 countries attended the IIRP's 2007 conference in Budapest, Hungary, on November 7-9, 2007. This interdisciplinary conference provided an international perspective on restorative practices theory and practice in a variety of settings, from education to social welfare to criminal justice. More information here.

IIRP president and founder Ted Wachtel is guest editor of the summer 2007 issue of Reclaiming Children and Youth, a publication of the Reclaiming Youth Network. The issue, which focuses on restorative practices, includes articles by Ted Wachtel, IIRP professors Beth Rodman and Frida Rundell, communications coordinator Laura Mirsky and many restorative practitioners. Subscribe by June 22 to receive the restorative practices issue as the first issue. If subscribing after that date you must specifically request that issue.

More information about Reclaiming Children and Youth here.

More than 300 participants from 17 countries attended the IIRP's 2006 conference in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA, on October 18-20, 2006 (including participants from 8 Canadian provinces and 25 U.S. states, plus Washington, D.C., and Guam). The conference brought together people from a variety of fields and backgrounds, to explore the development of “restorative communities,” where restorative practices are the primary modality for dealing with wrongdoing and conflict. More information, including the conference schedule and papers, here.

An article on restorative practices in schools appears in the May 17, 2005, edition of School Board News, published by the National School Boards Association, a nonprofit federation of state associations of school boards that represents about 15,000 local school districts throughout the United States. The report, by Carol Chmelynski, covers restorative initiatives across the US, including PEASE Academy, a school in Minnesota for students recovering from drug and alcohol addiction, a pilot program in six Wisconsin school districts and the IIRP's SaferSanerSchools program. Read the article here.