Our History
In 1995, Dr. Lauren Abramson introduced community conferencing in Baltimore. After learning about the process at a conference of the Silvan S. Tomkins Institute in Philadelphia in 1994 from Australian practitioner David Moore, Lauren attended the first facilitator training workshops conducted in the United States by Transformative Justice Australia.
Lauren became deeply committed to bringing community conferencing to Baltimore because of its power not only to drive important system reforms—such as in criminal justice and education—but also to empower individuals, families, and communities to resolve their own conflicts and harms.
After three years of advocacy and partnership-building with local leaders in criminal justice, education, and community development, the first Facilitator Training Workshop was held in Baltimore in 1998 with support from the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention. GOCCP then funded four Baltimore communities to establish their own community conferencing programs, with Lauren providing technical support funded by the Maryland Judiciary.
Over time, this work evolved and expanded beyond community conferencing into a broader commitment to restorative practices, community healing, and systems transformation. On April 11, 2018, the organization officially changed its name to Restorative Response Baltimore (RRB)—reflecting its expanded vision and continued dedication to building relationships, repairing harm, and strengthening communities across Baltimore.
Lauren became deeply committed to bringing community conferencing to Baltimore because of its power not only to drive important system reforms—such as in criminal justice and education—but also to empower individuals, families, and communities to resolve their own conflicts and harms.
After three years of advocacy and partnership-building with local leaders in criminal justice, education, and community development, the first Facilitator Training Workshop was held in Baltimore in 1998 with support from the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention. GOCCP then funded four Baltimore communities to establish their own community conferencing programs, with Lauren providing technical support funded by the Maryland Judiciary.
Over time, this work evolved and expanded beyond community conferencing into a broader commitment to restorative practices, community healing, and systems transformation. On April 11, 2018, the organization officially changed its name to Restorative Response Baltimore (RRB)—reflecting its expanded vision and continued dedication to building relationships, repairing harm, and strengthening communities across Baltimore.
The Community Conferencing Center is born
Total decentralization of community conferencing was not resulting in effective growth of the process or the programs. The need for a centralized organization to serve as a ‘hub’ for outreach, referrals, training, quality assurance, and evaluation became increasingly apparent.
Up to this point, Lauren had been coordinating community conferencing efforts on her volunteered time, which greatly limited the amount of effort to this work. In 1998, Lauren received an Open Society Institute Community Fellowship, allowing her to focus her work on developing and expanding community conferencing efforts in Baltimore and Maryland.
Lauren worked closely with Australian colleagues in elucidating the theoretical underpinnings of this effective process. One particularly unique aspect of our work is that it is grounded in our understanding of the role of emotion in bringing about both individual and group transformation.
As the use of conferencing grew in Baltimore, Lauren drew from research and theory, extracting and defining basic principles for both the conferencing process and for the implementation of the program, which has given rise to a model that allows for the effective use of community conferencing in a variety of sectors and with a variety of populations.
The Community Conferencing Center was born in the year 2000, unique in that it is the only broad-scale conferencing program in a large American city, providing theory-based services across several sectors.
Now called Restorative Response Baltimore, we also serve as the training and technical assistance ‘hub’ in Maryland. Working with over a dozen jurisdictions, we have helped establish community conferencing programs throughout the state.
RRB also receives inquiries about our work from other states and from other countries and has worked nationally and internationally to assist others in establishing similar restorative justice programs.
Up to this point, Lauren had been coordinating community conferencing efforts on her volunteered time, which greatly limited the amount of effort to this work. In 1998, Lauren received an Open Society Institute Community Fellowship, allowing her to focus her work on developing and expanding community conferencing efforts in Baltimore and Maryland.
Lauren worked closely with Australian colleagues in elucidating the theoretical underpinnings of this effective process. One particularly unique aspect of our work is that it is grounded in our understanding of the role of emotion in bringing about both individual and group transformation.
As the use of conferencing grew in Baltimore, Lauren drew from research and theory, extracting and defining basic principles for both the conferencing process and for the implementation of the program, which has given rise to a model that allows for the effective use of community conferencing in a variety of sectors and with a variety of populations.
The Community Conferencing Center was born in the year 2000, unique in that it is the only broad-scale conferencing program in a large American city, providing theory-based services across several sectors.
Now called Restorative Response Baltimore, we also serve as the training and technical assistance ‘hub’ in Maryland. Working with over a dozen jurisdictions, we have helped establish community conferencing programs throughout the state.
RRB also receives inquiries about our work from other states and from other countries and has worked nationally and internationally to assist others in establishing similar restorative justice programs.