The U.S. Embassy, through the office of International Narcotics and Law, donated $650,000 to the National Center of State Courts in order to expand resources available for juvenile offenders and victims of juvenile offenders going through restorative justice proceedings. The donation will also go towards providing restorative justice training to justice sector officials, as well as to expand the geographic focus of restorative justice support to San Carlos and Costa Rica’s southern zone.
Restorative justice programs focus on diverting young juvenile offenders from detention centers towards alternate sentencing programs, thereby decreasing recidivism and strengthening juvenile offenders’ ability to reintegrate into their families and communities.
This donation marks the second phase of INL’s support for restorative justice programs in Costa Rica. INL began supporting this effort with an initial $1.3 million grant that ran from 2014 to 2017.
