It’s noon on Tuesday and Bill is pouring himself coffee. In a minute he’ll go out to the Youth Services porch to meet with the other formerly incarcerated community members in the organization’s new Peer-Led Circle of Support and Accountability (Peer-Led COSA). This new project empowers formerly incarcerated community members with restorative practice tools to support each other to thrive and to adhere to the mantra “no more victims.”
This new pilot builds on the Circle of Support and Accountability (COSA) program, successfully operated for 15 years by Brattleboro Community Justice Center staff and volunteers. The center became a part of Youth Services in July 2021, bringing an array of restorative justice-oriented programming under one roof.
All members of the Peer-Led COSA have already spent a year working weekly with a circle of three to four volunteers in a Circle of Support and Accountability (COSA). These volunteers supported the core member’s first year of transition into the community and held them accountable to their own vision of success, their conditions of release, and repairing harm where possible.
The approach in both programs consists mostly of circle practice – structured conversation to build relationships and communication skills. Circle members engage in difficult and intimate conversations. The COSA program is credited with significantly reducing recidivism. It is also a deep dive into restorative practice and a source of joy and rich connection for participants.
According to Marie-Pierre Py, COSA Coordinator, the program had some limitations that the peer-led program seeks to address. “COSA support is limited to approximately one year, a short time to overcome the challenges of emerging from incarceration. Also, most volunteers have very different life experiences from many of our core members,” she explained. “Participants are grateful for the relationships they build with their COSA teams, but many express the desire to also meet with people who understand firsthand the challenges they face—and now that is possible,” Py emphasized.
Py explained how the new Peer-Led COSA program picks up where COSAs leave off. “A group of five recently graduated COSA core members meet with each other weekly for mutual support and to continue learning and practicing restorative communication skills,” she said. “The peer-led program celebrates and deepens the collective wisdom of participants and their unique capacity to support each other and future generations of Vermonters emerging from incarceration,” Py stated.
In its first phase currently, the group is facilitated by long-time COSA volunteer Scott Kaltenbaugh, founder of the If Men Project which facilitates discussions on healthy masculinity, compassion, empowerment and accountability. Kaltenbaugh is teaching the Peer-Led COSA facilitation skills so that the group can operate without him in the future and perhaps start other circles.
The Peer-led COSA currently has funding for one year, thanks to a Vermont Community Foundation Spark grant, but staff are optimistic that the group’s success will help secure funding for another year with a new cohort of COSA graduates.
With eight staff and more than 80 volunteers, the restorative justice team at Youth Services engages with hundreds of individuals each year to build community and repair harm using restorative practices. The merger with Brattleboro Community Justice Center has allowed Youth Services to strengthen existing programs and imagine new possibilities, like the Peer-Led COSA supporting Bill and his cohort of formerly incarcerated community members.