Project Reset diverts people out of the justice system with a proportionate, restorative, and effective response to low-level arrests.
Through Project Reset, participants avoid a criminal record by completing community-based programming. The program’s approach promotes healing, encourages accountability, and strengthens public trust in the justice system by emphasizing procedural justice.
Participants complete programming based on restorative justice principles, avoiding the negative impacts to housing, employment, and education that a court or incarceration could have. Reset operates in two models: a traditional, pre-court series of sessions with social workers, mental health counselors, and resource coordinators; and an innovative, “rapid” intervention engaging participants at court who could not be reached beforehand. Both models reduce the chance of re-offending, improve case processing, and pass along a renewed sense of safety, community, and purpose among youth and beyond.
From Pilot to Paradigm Shift: The Story of Project Reset
From a small pilot program to a citywide model for reform, Project Reset’s growth stands as a powerful example of how modest experiments can turn into lasting changes.
