Schools & Youth

Schools Need More Than One Response to Conflict.

CJC works with school communities before conflict grows, while something is happening, and after harm. The goal is not to find one program for every situation. It is to help young people, families, educators, and partners build skills, understand choices, and find a constructive next step when one is needed.

Support

Something is happening.

Start with the situation and explore what kind of response may fit.

Strengthen

Build capacity before a crisis.

Skills, relationships, and restorative practice can change what becomes possible later.

See the work

See where CJC is already working.

School partnerships and youth-justice work are two different ways the practice shows up in Fresno.

Two ways in

What Brings You Here?

You do not have to be in crisis to reach out. Some people arrive because something is happening now. Others want to strengthen the school community before a difficult situation grows.

Something is happening now

Start With the Situation.

Conflict between students, a strained relationship with an adult, discipline, exclusion, bullying, escalation, or harm may call for very different responses. CJC can help you understand whether preparation, mediation, a restorative process, or another next step is worth exploring.

Ask CJC about a school concern

Build something stronger

Strengthen the School Community.

Schools and youth-serving partners can work with CJC on belonging, conflict skills, restorative practice, learning, youth voice, staff development, and stronger referral pathways before conflict becomes a crisis.

Talk with CJC about a school partnership

Three moments

Before. During. After.

School community work is not only a response after something goes wrong. Learning and relationships run through all three moments.

Before conflict grows

Build skills and relationships.

Belonging, practical conflict skills, restorative practice, youth voice, and stronger everyday relationships can help schools address conflict earlier.

When something is happening

Create a constructive place to turn.

Preparation, mediation, restorative conversation, listening, or another supported next step may help people understand what is happening and what could come next.

After harm

Make room for accountability and repair.

Where it fits, restorative work can support voice, responsibility, repair, and rebuilding relationships without assuming every situation needs the same process.

Youth voice

Young People Are Participants, Not Problems to Process.

The exact process depends on the situation, but dignity, clarity, preparation, and a meaningful way to be heard should travel with the work.

What Young People Should Be Able to Expect

Young people deserve an age-appropriate explanation of what is happening.

Participation and what to expect should be clear, not assumed.

There should be a safe way to ask questions — or to say they need to stop.

A trusted adult or support may matter, depending on the situation.

Adults, schools, and systems share responsibility for the conditions around conflict — the young person is not the whole problem to solve.

Young peopleFamiliesEducatorsSchool leadersYouth-serving partnersCommunity practitioners

CJC at work with young people

The Work Shows Up in Schools and in Youth Justice.

Those are different settings with different responsibilities. CJC does not treat them as the same pathway.

School communities

Build Skills, Practice, and Better Referral Paths.

School partnerships can include restorative practice, practical conflict learning, staff and community training, youth voice, facilitated processes, and clearer ways to respond when conflict or harm needs more than discipline alone.

Explore school partnerships

Juvenile Justice Campus & youth justice

Restorative Justice Inside the Juvenile Justice System.

CJC’s VORP work gives referred young people and people harmed a restorative option alongside the juvenile justice process. The work can include individual preparation and family group conferencing so people can describe impact, responsibility, questions, and possible repair before deciding what comes next.

Fresno County’s current agreement for restorative justice mediation began October 1, 2025 and may continue for up to five years. It is funded with Youthful Offender Block Grant funds rather than a participant fee.

For schools & systems

Institutional Work Has Its Own Pricing.

Training, implementation, and longer school partnerships are institutional engagements. CJC publishes starting points for that work on the Partnerships page so those costs are not confused with support for a young person or family.

See partnership options and pricing

Where to next

Choose the Starting Point That Fits.

Something is happening at school

Ask CJC About a School Concern.

Reaching out begins a conversation. It does not commit anyone to a particular process.