The  National Conflict Resolution Center (NCRC) is pleased to announce The Gerald T. and Inez Grant Parker Foundation (The Parker Foundation) has made a $50,000 pledge towards the agency’s Avoiding the Pipeline to Prison initiative to help keep at-risk youth out of the juvenile justice system and on track to adult success.

The Parker Foundation award includes a $30,000 outright gift and a $20,000 one-for-one challenge matching grant. To meet that fundraising challenge, NCRC will turn to “THE 100,” a new coalition of leaders from San Diego’s legal community who support NCRC’s restorative justice and community building efforts. 

“We are very grateful to The Parker Foundation for this generous and timely gift,” said Thomas W. Turner, Jr., board chair, National Conflict Resolution Center and a founding member of THE 100. “Our caring mentors help youth offender’s complete restorative plans and provide the follow up support and direction youth need to transition from at-risk teenagers to capable adults. Added support from The Parker Foundation and THE 100 will help us expand this vital effort.”

Funding from The Parker Foundation and THE 100 will enable NCRC to build up its corps of trained restorative volunteer mentors, adults whose personal guidance of at-risk youth has been integral to the success of the celebrated program.

NCRC’s Avoiding the Pipeline to Prison initiative was launched in 2014 in partnership with the San Diego Unified School District, San Diego County Sheriff Department, San Diego District Attorney, San Diego Police Department, San Diego County Probation Department and the San Diego County Public Defender.

The program’s benchmark successes include a 60 percent drop in student expulsions and suspensions and a recidivism rate of only 13 percent for young participants, well below the 33 percent for non-participants. Cost savings are also dramatic. Replacing juvenile prosecution and incarceration with NCRC’s restorative community conferences  saves over $100,000 per offender.

National Conflict Resolution Center provides the resources, training and expertise to help people, organizations and communities around the world manage and solve conflicts with civility. Built on the principle that every dispute has a solution, National Conflict Resolution Center serves a variety of communities in both the public and private sectors – regionally, nationally and internationally. The organization’s mission is to resolve issues with the highest possible degree of civility and equitability to all parties involved.

To learn more, please call 619-238-2400 or visit http://www.ncrconline.com.