Services & Programs
For any service or program inquiry please contact us by phone, email or messenger.
Consultations - Gain input, assessments & strategies for implementing Transformative Justice based approaches in your community, collective, or agency.
Presentations & Public Speaking - Engaging and informative overviews of key TJ/HR concepts, analysis about punitive justice and the impacts of carceral systems, while considering community held alternatives.
Workshops & Training - Sign up for a seasonal intensive training or book us to design a tailored interactive workshop or series for your community, staff or participants. Themes include TJ principles and practices, conflict negotiation, conferencing, penal abolition, establishing support pods, sentencing circles and community alternatives for safety and justice, among others. Also available online! See our blog & social media for posted events.
Circle & Conferencing Support - We can support with preparing for and facilitating TJ circles & family conferencing. We can also support communities to host their own circles. We acknowledge and honour that circles and many other TJ practices in Canada come from the teachings of Indigenous peoples.
Referrals - Where possible we can offer referrals of facilitators, mediators, circle keepers and other support services for TJ processes. We believe it is important for communities to work together and with skilled practitioners that have cultural knowledge and lived experience.
Community TJ Support Fund - We know that often Transformative & Restorative Justice processes take time, energy, skills, and healing supports in order to be sustainable and successful. In 2021 we are launching this fund as a resource for communities to increase access to skilled mediators and circle keepers, among other things. Email rittenhouse@gmail.com for more information about how to request funds.
Transformative Justice in the Arts - We deeply value the power of the arts & creative expression as accessible tools for exploring Transformative Justice and Abolitionist concepts. We design and facilitate TJ based community arts projects, we support incarcerated artists to share their works, and we elevate artists for social change in our communities through events and partnerships.
Pen Pal programs - We have a long history of running volunteer driven pen pal programs with incarcerated peoples. The purpose is to reduce isolation for prisoners by providing positive and supportive correspondence and to deepen understanding of the prison experience for community volunteers. Email rittenhouse@gmail.com if you’re interested in volunteering or if you are connected with a prisoner who could benefit from this program.
Advocacy - We engage in individual and systemic support work for people & communities impacted by criminalization & incarceration. This includes case work, letter writing, creating release plans etc. It also involves larger campaign & organizing work within the abolition movement. Visit our “Prisoner Resources” page for more information.
Transformative Justice Network building - An ongoing project. We are deeply invested in contributing to, cultivating and growing networks and coalitions of people, in Toronto and Internationally, with skills & practices that contribute to community held justice alternatives. See our ‘Community Resources’ page for more on this.
Research & Resources - Rittenhouse has long been a source of research & publications relating to Prison Abolition & Transformative Justice education. We are working on building an online database of our archive. Pamphlet subjects include: “Penal Abolition and Transformative Justice”, “How Do We Convince the Public”, “What are the Alternatives to Prison?”, “What About the Dangerous Few?” and "Restorative Justice and Harm Reduction". Go to our resource pages for more information, visit our Social Media platforms or contact us for requests.