A new state criminal justice program will use an option generally reserved for younger offenders to help rehabilitate people who commit crimes.
Offenders of any age who've committed certain crimes in San Joaquin County will be eligible for a restorative justice program in which they meet with the victims of their actions, possibly avoiding incarceration.
The five-year pilot program will be tough, but in the end it will be worth it, according to San Joaquin County District Attorney Tori Verber Salazar.
"At graduation you're employed; you've made amends with anybody that you've caused harms with; you are building that first and last month's rent so that we can get you into housing," Verber Salazar said. "Because we know jobs, housing, and education are the three best tools I have in preventing crime."
The program will not be available to everyone. "People committing murder, attempted murder, rape, sexual assault, any child abuse, those obviously will be excluded from the program," Verber Salazar said.
This model has become popular as a rehabilitative technique for minors.
"This will provide an opportunity for people to truly understand why they did what they did," said Adnan Khan who co-founded Re:store Justice, a non-profit and was recently released from San Quentin State Prison. "So then they can be accountable, and so then they can continue making amends."
The program will be funded with $5 million from the state while an independent monitor tracks recidivism rates and whether crime victims are satisfied.