Equal Justice USA (EJUSA), a national organization working to transform the nation’s justice system, recently announced it is expanding into four new communities to build new restorative justice initiatives.

In its announcement, EJUSA said these programs will “serve as an offramp for youth, protecting them from the harsh punishment of the criminal legal system.” EJUSA added that the programs will still identify “root causes and provide an opportunity for healing, both for the person harmed and the person who has caused harm.”

The new organizations joining the “Restorative Justice Diversion Roots Cohort” are spread throughout the South and Midwest. They include organizations in Hinds County, Mississippi; Richmond, Virginia; Oakland County, Michigan; and Pulaski County, Arkansas.

“Developing partnerships in these four communities allows us to expand our restorative justice diversion work in the Southern and Midwestern regions of the country– areas that will strengthen the national representation of our Restorative Justice Diversion Collaborative and tend to the areas of our country experiencing the heaviest resurgence of tough-on-crime backslides,” Cymone Fuller, Senior Restorative Justice Director at EJUSA, said. “We are excited about all of the possibilities ahead with these new partnerships and are grateful for the opportunity to advance pathways to meaningful healing and accountability for more communities.”

The new organizations in the cohort will come together and receive assistance from EJUSA in creating and implementing their justice initiatives. They will join existing EJUSA partners from across the country.

More information about EJUSA’s work can be found here.