Space for Change

A Restorative Approach to Domestic Violence

A restorative approach to domestic violence.

Space for Change is a collaboration between Walnut Avenue Family & Women’s Center (Walnut Avenue) and the Conflict Resolution Center of Santa Cruz County (CRC). It offers opportunities for people who have caused domestic violence or people who have experienced it to work on building safer, healthier relationships based on principles of restorative justice.

  • Restorative justice is an umbrella term for a variety of ways in which communities address harm between individuals. Instead of focusing on punishment, it asks what personal and societal factors contributed to the harm that happened and what the survivor needs to feel like healing has been done. The goal is to center the survivor’s safety and healing while also allowing an opportunity for the person who caused harm to take personal responsibility for their actions in a way that’s based on their own healing, not on shame and punishment.

  • Healing circles are designed to help survivors of domestic violence connect or reconnect with people they trust. Isolation from community and loved ones is a common consequence of domestic violence. Sometimes survivors encounter stigma and judgment from loved ones who mean well but may not understand the dynamics of the domestic violence, which can deepen the feeling of isolation. Sometimes survivors themselves may have caused harm to their children or other people.

    Who this service is for: survivors and their loved ones. The person who caused the domestic violence does not participate in this service.

  • Family, friends, neighbors, and other folks who share community connections can receive education on how to be safer, more effective support people for the domestic violence survivors in their lives. This education is offered at no cost and can be customized to address specific concerns, cultural contexts, and other unique factors.

    Who this service is for: friends, family, and/or community members of a survivor. Neither the survivor nor the person who caused harm participate in this service.

    • A survivor may receive information about domestic violence from an advocate as part of our peer counseling services.

    • A person who caused harm may receive information about domestic violence as part of an accountability process (below).

  • When someone recognizes that they have caused harm and would like support in learning how to make safer choices for themselves and others, they can participate in an accountability process. This person is assigned a facilitator who supports them through a non-judgmental, non-legal learning process. This does not require the participation of anyone who was harmed.

    Who this service is for: a person who caused harm to a romantic or sexual partner or to a family member.

    The person harmed is not obligated to participate in this service.

    • All participants must be aged 12 or older.

    • The situation must be assessed by the advocates as low or moderate risk in terms of safety.

      • High risk situations are too unsafe for restorative justice. Crisis intervention services will be offered instead. When crisis has passed, then your situation may be reconsidered for Space for Change.

    • In cases of a process involving multiple participants, there must be no current court order which would prohibit communication between anyone who’s participating.

    Depending on the circumstances of your situation, your advocate may want to discuss additional concerns with you to ensure that we’re not putting anyone at greater risk.

    Please note that that participation is voluntary for all parties. Anyone may end their participation at any time, for any reason.

How is Space for Change different from your other domestic violence services?

Space for Change is not crisis intervention and is focused on healing from harm already done. It will not work for situations where harm is still happening unless the person causing harm is the one voluntarily reaching out for help.

If you are currently experiencing, or have recently experienced, abuse from an intimate partner or family member, then please reach out to our Services for Survivors of Domestic Violence instead.

Having Realistic Expectations

  • No: the only people who can fix a relationship are the people involved in it. We can provide support, information, and resources, but it’s up to the participants to decide what their relationship’s future looks like.

  • Couple’s counseling is a therapeutic approach in which the relationship itself is being explored. Successful counseling requires some degree of vulnerability from the people in the relationship and a commitment to making personal changes in behavior or communication to improve the relationship.

    In domestic violence, the power imbalance makes this almost impossible. More often than not, couple’s counseling puts the survivor at greater risk of harm as their vulnerability is used against them by an abusive partner.

    Learn more about power dynamics and coercive control by contacting an advocate.

  • In the United States, only a court of law can make legal orders or convict anyone of anything. Our program offers an alternative option for people who prefer not to seek legal intervention, but it’s not designed to replace it.

    Restorative justice is based on principles that are not compatible with the way our legal system currently operates.

If you think you might be interested in participating,

please make sure you’ve read this whole page in its entirety before using the online intake form below.

Are you someone who’s caused harm looking for immediate support?

There’s a free, anonymous hotline available to you from 10am-10pm EST, every day of the year.

Credit & Resources

Walnut Avenue and the CRC’s Space for Change program is based on the work from:

Walnut Avenue’s commitment to Black Lives Matter was a deciding factor in creating another option for healing around interpersonal violence without the pressure of relying on state systems that often increase violence and trauma. Our work wouldn’t be possible without the years of prior and current work being done by marginalized communities, especially Black, Indigenous, LGBTQ+, and sex worker communities.

Additional local and national resources about community accountability, restorative justice, and transformative justice include:

We also list some books on alternative forms of justice and prison abolition in our staff Reading List page.

Walnut Avenue is unaffiliated with any of the organizations listed above.