A new state grant will help Marin expand its restorative justice program, allowing more victims to engage in a dialogue with those who committed crimes upon them. The county’s probation department said it will use the $439,515 grant to hire another facilitator, expand locations for victims and offenders to meet and further cement the alternative approach into Marin’s criminal justice system. As of July, the restorative justice program has handled 60 cases and seen just two recidivisms since it was launched in 2016. Cindy Ayala, a native of Montreal, Canada, was the program’s first coordinator. Some of her cases are diversion-eligible—less serious crimes like road rage, first-time assaults, vandalism and theft. Before defendants see a judge, she offers them an alternative. If the defendant accepts responsibility for the harm he or she caused and is willing to make amends, Ms. Ayala identifies the needs of the victim and begins a conversation between the two parties. Every case is resolved differently, she said, ranging from a simple apology to financial restitution. The process may culminate in a face-to-face meeting. Offenders realize the impact of their crime, victims are allowed to heal and all charges are dismissed without ever seeing a courtroom. The program also involves people already convicted of a crime, who are on probation. When probation officers hear “change talk,” as they call it—about regrets, amends or remorse—they flag the person as likely to benefit from restorative justice. Ms. Ayala recounted a case involving a man who burglarized several empty homes until he broke into a house with a woman inside and was arrested. When Ms. Ayala met him, she said, he had never really considered his victims. “He had this mindset that insurance would take care of it, or that they weren’t home,” she said. “There was almost no insight of ‘Oh wow, that person was really impacted.’” Ms. Ayala facilitated a dialogue between the man and his victim, who asked him written questions. When the victim questioned why he had committed the crime, he answered that he had a substance abuse issue and was stealing things to sell for drug money. He agreed to pay her back for the door he broke. The victim then asked about how to address his addiction. Not long after, the man enrolled in a rehabilitation program and the victim kept track of his progress. “Oddly enough, it just reassured the victim that at least the person was taking the concrete steps to being accountable, and that was more important to her than the actual crime,” Ms. Ayala said. Through dialogues like this one, labels like “victim” and “offender” fall off. “It humanizes the whole thing,” she said. The process helps victims meet their needs, too. More than punishment, victims tend to want information about what happened the day of the crime, she said. In cases where full healing requires a face-to-face meeting, the new grant will allow the program to rent spaces from nonprofits where restorative interactions can be held in a comfortable environment. With another facilitator, Ms. Ayala hopes the program can be expanded to provide opportunities at all levels of the criminal justice system—concurrently with criminal proceedings and for a wider range of offenses. “Right now, we’re in a really good time where there’s momentum, and people want to see restorative justice in their communities,” she said.