It is not used to determine guilt, and at any time during the process the offender may choose to bring the conference to a halt and proceed to court for a traditional determination of guilt or innocence. During preparation, a trained coordinator receives a referral report and consults with juvenile justice officials to become familiar with the case. This gives the coordinator has the opportunity to become acquainted with the parties and to identify and discuss any needs of the parties and purposes of the conference. Both then have a chance to express their feelings about the events and circumstances surrounding the crime. Each may then direct questions to one another, followed by questions posed by their respective families.
Negotiations continue in the group until consensus is reached.
In the post-conference phase, the coordinator monitors completion of the agreement and locates needed resources for youth or family when needed. It the agreement cannot be successfully completed with the coordinator's intervention, the case is returned to the courts for further action. Evaluation FGC programs appear to show promising returns in juvenile corrections with victim satisfaction rates around 90 percent, restitution agreements reached in 95 percent of the cases, and restitution completion without police follow-up in 90 percent of the cases. For other resources and annotated bibliography on this subject This document prepared by Christopher Bright. Copyright 1997 by Prison Fellowship International.