Nature of the Crime:  crime is understood as an offense against human relationships, community safety and well-being, secondarily as an offense against the law or state. 
Offender Accountability:  holds offender directly accountable to the actual harm done to the direct victims, others in the community, and the community as a whole; promoting responsibility to be taken in a face to face meeting, personalizing the victimization of others. 
Repair of Harm:  attempts to make all harms “right”, allowing for victims to move past the event by providing voice and recognition. 
Balanced Participation:  brings together in voluntary and constructive ways the victim, offender, and community for the purpose of reintegration.  The criminal justice system holds coercive power for follow through and completion, without being the motivation for success. 
Capacity Building:  provides opportunity for victims to move toward forgiveness and healing, offenders to develop empathy and ability to make better choices, communities to realize empowerment in solving their own problems; allowing the justice system to play a supportive, humanizing role. 
Encouragement of Innovation:  less hampered by bureaucracy and legal constraints, it emphasizes new ways of thinking about justice and innovative methods and strategies to solving system problems.
Partnerships for Action:  seeks to build mutually beneficial partnerships among stakeholders in the justice process, community safety and well being. 
The Community is the Driving Force Behind the Process:  those who are closest to the parties are in the best position to establish and monitor the process of justice, community members must be willing to take responsibility for creating a system of justice, which will work for its members. 

              
Community members in Estes Park take responsibility for creating an equitable system of justice

Population Category 50,001-150,000:

Gold Award Winner: Savannah, Georgia
Neighborhood Renaissance Savannah
(click here to view the complete application)
Martin Fretty, Director, City of Savannah Department of Housing, mfretty@savannahga.gov

Neighborhood Renaissance Savannah grew out of concern that many of Savannah’s poorer, inner-city, neighborhoods were in a downward spiral.  These once thriving neighborhoods were, by the 1990s, in peril.  An older generation of responsible residents and homeowners were dying without leaving Wills.  As a result, heirs were unable to secure funds to repair homes.  Without clear title, these homes were also unable to be sold.  Additionally, able children of older residents were moving from childhood neighborhoods in search of new opportunities and living environments.  Public housing communities built in the 1940s were also becoming obsolete and undesirable places to live.  These and other societal events resulted in property falling into disrepair, becoming vacant and being demolished—if not the bulldozer, by neglect.  Investment in many neighborhoods by residents, property owners and legitimate entrepreneurs came to a halt.  This opened the door to a transient, less stable, population and to persons involved in the drug trade and other criminal activity. 

Recognizing this problem, the City began developing a neighborhood revitalization model that includes the human and financial capital necessary to revitalize distressed inner-city neighborhoods.  This model has become known as Neighborhood Renaissance Savannah.  The first neighborhood selected to participate in the renaissance process was Cuyler-Brownsville.  Initial planning occurred in the late 1990s with implementation beginning in 2000.  Experiences gained planning and implementing the Cuyler-Brownsville revitalization initiative have been perfected and adapted to other neighborhoods including Benjamin Van Clark, West Savannah and Savannah Gardens.  Core and coordinated components of Neighborhood Renaissance Savannah include:

• building partnerships
• participatory planning
• aggressive property maintenance
• derelict and vacant property acquisition
• housing, economic and infrastructure investment
• green, sustainable, design

Since 2000, Neighborhood Renaissance Savannah has utilized citizens, multiple partnerships, creative policies and a modest CDBG/HOME budget to leverage more than $150 million for housing and neighborhood improvements in three Savannah neighborhoods.  It is also helping assemble another roughly $100 million investment for fourth neighborhood.  Neighborhood Renaissance Savannah has taken root in Savannah.  It demonstrates that a committed and innovative local government can play a leading role in revitalizing distressed neighborhoods.  

              
Participatory planning techniques helped revitalize Savannah's distressed neighborhoods

Silver Award Winner: Burnsville, Minnesota
Burnsville Surface Water Treatment Plant Project
(click here to view the complete application)
Bud Osmundson, Director, Public Works/City Engineer, bud.osmundson@ci.burnsville.mn.us

The Burnsville Surface Water Treatment Plant (SWTP) Project is an innovative Public-Private Partnership (PPP) to collaboratively design, construct and operate a new SWTP in the best interests of regional groundwater resources by the cities of Burnsville and Savage, the State of Minnesota and Kraemer Mining and Materials, Inc. (KMM).  Rapid growth within the southern Minneapolis and Saint Paul metropolitan area has stressed regional groundwater aquifers to meet the increased demand for potable water to the point of endangering other natural groundwater resources including two very rare calcareous fens and a spring fed trout stream.  The solution is to recover, convey and treat groundwater discharging into the KMM quarry for potable use in the two cities.  Having no model to follow for such a non-conventional PPP where the private entity has the resources and needs the expertise of local municipalities to convey, treat and distribute the product, the partners have forged agreements that have concluded over a decade of planning, resulting in a program no single partner could have managed to do alone.

The ultimate goal of the Burnsville SWTP Project is to conserve at least 4 million gallons of groundwater per day and increase the groundwater head conditions at the fens helping them to maintain and possibly expand their rare and protected plant species while meeting the increased water demand needs within both communities.  Currently KMM dewaters or pumps out that amount of high quality groundwater out of their quarry into the Minnesota River to continue mining operations.  Design and groundwater modeling have shown this goal can easily be achieved both quantitatively and qualitatively once the SWTP is fully operational.  In the mean time the cities have been able to idle wells in close proximity to the fens and postpone drilling new wells that could have further stressed the resources.  The best result has been that the partnerships created by this project extend far beyond the project itself and could lead to many new and exciting projects and programs in the future.

            
Burnsville's water treatment plant contains innovative water conservation features, such as a green roof

Population Category 150,001-500,000:

Gold Award Winner: Long Beach, California
Creating a Youth-Driven Career Center
(click here to view the complete application)
Bryan S. Rogers, Executive Director, Pacific Gateway Workforce Investment Network, bryan_rogers@longbeach.gov

While planning for the development of a new career center for youth, and annual projects in support of its emerging workforce, the City of Long Beach saw an opportunity to reinvent some of its core youth service strategies that combat youth disconnection from the labor market and from productive education activities.  Its workforce development agency focused on opportunities to engage youth in the design and creation of physical spaces, outreach messages, collateral materials, actual products, key policy-making and critical community connections.

The City’s mayor-appointed Workforce Investment Board and its Youth Council partnered with myriad public and private organizations, such as the local school district, Job Corps, the YMCA, local businesses, service providers, and numerous young adult residents. Through creative collaboration and effective management of municipal resources, core services strategies were examined and changed to focus on the solution: a clear youth voice in the message. 

The youth workforce program developed various methods to incorporate the opinions of young adults: their increased participation on the City’s Youth Council; peer crafting of messages to reach at-risk young adults; high school interior design students’ involvement in the Center’s youth-focused re-design; and development of vibrant and meaningful labor market materials in a glossy youth workforce development magazine.      

At the end, the youth workforce program found itself with a much more relevant and sustainable youth-driven services strategy - as directly engaging young people increased their confidence, self-esteem, and continued involvement in collectively meeting the community’s ongoing challenges.

                
Long Beach youth engage in youth-focused workforce development programs and activities

Silver Award Winner: St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis Alliance for Homeownership Preservation
(click here to view the complete application)
Angela Morton Conley, Executive Director, Affordable Housing Commission, conleya@stlouiscity.com

In early 2008, Mayor Slay became concerned about the growing number of foreclosures—foreclosures can hurt not only individual homeowners but City neighborhoods and the City’s economy as a whole.  The Mayor believed that with early, proactive intervention, many foreclosures could be avoided, and approached agencies already involved in this issue individually and asked them to work as a group to help City homeowners avoid foreclosure to the greatest possible extent. 

The agencies agreed to collaborate.   This new "St. Louis Alliance for Home Ownership Preservation" began operating in March 2008.  The City funded the Alliance from two sources:  the City’s Affordable Housing Commission, established in 2001 with a portion of the proceeds of a new “use tax” committed $250,000, and the Board of Aldermen matched that amount with an additional $250,000 in general revenue.  HUD counseling funding augmented the available City funding.

One critical deficiency in the HUD-funded initiative was that no funds were available to provide financial assistance to homeowners.   Much of the City’s funding went towards filling this gap:  agencies were authorized to spend up to $1,500 per household to make past-due mortgage/insurance payments or pay closing costs on fixed rate refinancings, but only when it was virtually certain that after the one-time assistance the family could continue to own the home—e.g., families must demonstrate ability to make future mortgage payments based on a budget that takes into account income/all household expenses—and only when necessary to avoid foreclosure. 

Services provided by the Alliance include initial homeowner screening, budget preparation, financial literacy courses, intervention/negotiations with lenders to restructure/refinance existing mortgages (many originally adjustable rate or subprime), and case management for one year after initial intake. When foreclosure cannot be prevented, agencies assist in relocating the family to a rental home.

In the program’s first year of operation, 976 families received initial counseling/case management, 428 homes have been saved from foreclosure, and only 12—less than 3% of the 440 cases resolved—experienced foreclosure.  Other homeowners were still in the process of receiving assistance.  The program continues in 2009.

     
Counseling and assistance helps St. Louis residents avoid foreclosure and remain in their homes

Population Category Over 500,000:

Gold Award Winner: New York City, New York
Homebase
(click here for the complete nomination)
Holly Frindell, Community Coordinator, New York City Department of Homeless Services, hfrindel@dhs.nyc.gov

Homebase is a network of 13 neighborhood-based homelessness prevention centers designed to help families avoid homelessness.  It is funded by the New York City Department of Homeless Services, and operated by community-based organizations with decades of experience tackling poverty and homelessness. 

Homebase is designed to achieve three primary goals:  1) prevent homelessness from occurring, 2) help families who seek shelter find immediate alternatives and shorten their time in shelter and 3) prevent repeated stays in shelter.

To achieve these goals, Homebase provides a combination of case management services and financial assistance to tailor a solution that helps the family avoid entering shelter. Homebase acts quickly to help the family preserve their housing, and then develops a long-term plan for housing stability.  The service plan is unique to each household and is developed in conjunction with the family. The plan may include short-term financial assistance, job training, financial education, legal services, mediation, household repairs, and accessing work support benefits.

The Homebase model is successful due to a combination of experienced community-based providers, a flexible service model, and comprehensive data analysis.  From September 2004 through April 2009, over 14,000 households were served by Homebase. Over 90 percent of these households did not enter shelter within one year of service.  Homebase has also provided diversion services to over 1,000 families.

The Homebase model is constantly evolving to meet current demands and trends in shelter entry, such as the current foreclosure crisis.

    
Homebase helps New York City families avoid homelessness by offering valuable resources like financial literacy classes

Silver Award Winner: Seattle, Washington
Green Seattle Partnerships
(click here to view the complete application)
Program Contact: Kristine Kertson, Strategic Advisor, City of Seattle

The Green Seattle Partnership is a collaboration between the City of Seattle, Cascade Land Conservancy and our residents to restore 2,500 acres of forested parkland by 2025.  These precious areas are failing as existing trees reach the end of their natural life and invasive plants have choked out the next generation of trees. 

Our grand deciduous trees and forested parklands have quietly helped Seattle grow into one of America’s most livable cities.  Now, Seattle trees and parks need help.  Of the 3,200 acres of forested parkland, 2,500 acres are heavily infested with English ivy, Himalayan blackberry and other invasive plants.  Seattle’s deciduous trees – big leaf maple and red alder – are dying of old age, while native evergreens cannot reseed or compete with the invasive plants.  The uniqueness and functionality of Seattle’s forested parklands is being lost to a blanket of strangling weeds.  Without a massive, coordinated community effort, 7 out of 10 trees in these natural areas will be dead within twenty years. 

In response to this community need and building on the existing and ongoing work of committed volunteers, the City of Seattle and the Cascade Land Conservancy launched The Green Seattle Partnership in 2004.  The Partnership is a 20-year effort to restore 2,500 acres of Seattle’s forested parks, build community support for long-term park stewardship and pass on a legacy of community service to future generations.  By mobilizing Seattle residents to donate 2 million volunteer hours and plant 200,000 trees by 2025, the Green Seattle Partnership will create healthier and more livable communities and pass on a legacy of community service to future generations. 

Since the program's inception, over 385 acres have entered restoration with teh support of over 242,000 hours of community volunteer support.  The Cascade Land Conservancy has leveraged the model created with this program to launch similar programs in other cities in the region:  Green Kirkland Partnership (2005), Green Tacoma Partnership (2006) and theGreen Redmond Partnership (2008).  The Green Seattle Partnership is charting a course to a more livable community that cities around the country can follow.

      
Seattle residents of all ages help preserve the city's natural resources