What is R&RA?
The Restoration & Resilience Alliance educates, empowers, and encourages justice-impacted people, during and/or after their incarceration, who have done violent and/or sexual harm.
R&RA was founded in 2024 by restorative justice practitioners who believe that rehabilitation is possible and that no one should be defined by the worst thing they’ve ever done. Since 2014, R&RA staff have facilitated social-emotional learning at California Institution for Men in Chino, California. More than 100 incarcerated adult men with long-term or life sentences have successfully completed these groups. At least thirty-five have been released by California’s Board of Parole Hearings and are today rebuilding their lives in more positive, pro-social ways.
Why R&RA is Different
R&RA emphasizes the core principles of restorative justice. We want to inspire people to invest in the fundamental principles and practices of restorative justice, because we believe that the best and most effective way to heal the traumatic effects of crime is to strengthen and support people to get along better restoratively.
How does this work? In schools, families, prisons, workplaces, and other settings, restorative justice encourages us to see ourselves as interconnected with one another as human beings. And it asks us to recognize that we are parts of larger communities such as families, neighborhoods, and cultures, where it’s clear that our actions affect others … just as others’ actions affect us.