 Alex Lavin from Channel 17 here to promote a really interesting new award on the horizon in the realm of restorative justice having to do with a nominee right here in our own midst here in Vermont, Mr. Herb Sinkinson, welcome to Channel 17 Studios. Thank you for having me. What's going on in the world of probation and parole? What's new is that we were named a finalist, a national finalist in an award program put on by a company by the name of C5 from California and I just learned about a week and a half ago that we were one of the five finalists around the United States and this is specifically focusing in on the reparative probation program which led to all sorts of restorative justice initiatives that are now existent not just at probation but mostly at the community justice centers across Vermont. So that's what this is all about. Statewide restorative justice programs are almost non-existent around the United States. We were the first one to do that and we may still be the only one that's done that statewide. How do we get the ball rolling with that? We did some market analysis, people's feelings, views on things, ordinary people in the communities as well as stakeholders back in the early 90s and it indicated to us that victims felt that they were not paid enough attention to and that communities didn't feel like offenders were making amends directly to the community either so we built the reparative probation program and several other restorative justice initiatives and now other ones have also been incorporated since then. Interesting. So as opposed to a traditional approach to criminal justice where you could send somebody to incarceration or you could let them out on a probation or you could offer some kind of third option, this gives a panoply of options that is more individually suited to the charges at play here. Exactly. And again, it's very unusual in some states for somebody to get a probation case and to deal with that case with several other trained volunteers from the community. So in Vermont and across Vermont, reparative probation means that people that are placed on probation, if the judge so decides it, needs to go to a panel of community members and with the victim, very importantly, sitting across the table from them and then they can all decide collaboratively how that offender needs to make amends to both the victim and also the broader community. So we're really taking this out of the courthouse and it sounds like it really takes a village in this sense. Exactly. Okay. You put it in a nutshell. Okay, so you're up for this award and it sounds like you're doing some pretty good work out there and it deserves recognition. How can people get on board with helping you in this nomination and voting for you all out of the five finalists for C5's Catalyst for Change award? I am glad you asked. They simply have to go to www.c5.c5.com slash catalyst4change. Okay, and they're going to find finalists? Yes, what they could basically do is Google C5 Catalyst for Change and that's a number four. Sure, we're displaying the link on the screen right now so folks can follow along with that. And they will see a page that comes up with five possible choices of people and places to vote. Now you were careful to remind me, you're a selfless guy, Herb. So even though it does say Herb Sinkinson here, you were careful to correct me that this actually is not your specific nomination. This is really for, on the model of restorative justice, it takes a village and indeed it's taken in an entire bunch of people that wouldn't fit in the studio right now in order to get this going. Absolutely, exactly. So I am representing all the folks that have gone before that have helped put this Repertive Probation Program together which has then led to the community justice centers around Vermont and all of those volunteers and other staff members some of whom are department of corrections employees and some of whom are hired through grants etc. and are actually not department employees but are consultants or what have you. A lot of people adding a whole lot of talent to it. That's right. So each one of these programs has somebody associated with it that had worked on it and helped to initiate it and develop it and I was the one that was... You're the guy. Go ahead and find Herb Sinkinson's name at c5.com, catalyst for change and vote for him for the important work that he's done in the realm of restorative justice specifically here in the state of Vermont making sure that community-based restorative justice is helping to create restorative justice work for the victims restorative justice work for the people up on charges and restorative justice work for the community as a whole. Well put. Thank you very much for having me. And congratulations on your nomination. Please vote for little old Vermont. We're up against Ohio, two programs from Kansas and one from Las Vegas, Nevada and we have the smallest population but I know how Vermonters are and we can win this.