in recent years and how they appear to be more effective than previously used victim impact panels. The reason the circles work better is because all individuals involved can face each other. Circles historically have been used to listen to ideas and make decisions. The panels did not have the personal interaction that the circles have shown to have. The idea of restorative justice is that you can use dialogue and discussion in order to try to solve delinquency problems before going to court. Results are measured by how much preparing has been done rather than how much punishment has been inflicted. The idea of the courts is often to punish and victims and suspects never speak to each other face to face. In the victim impact panels both parties have a chance to speak their mind. Because children often have a narrow view of the world and are unable to put themselves in peoples shoes, putting a face and personality to a person they harmed is often effective to turn the bad behavior around. Dan talked about how the victim offender conferencing is voluntary on everyone's part and that more offenders say no than the victims. They are often too embarrassed. The idea is that the door is open at all times and anyone is free to leave, that way no one feels they are being held against their will. The most important aspect of the conference is safety. If safety cannot be insured than a VOC should not be conducted. Accountability for the juvenile offender means taking responsibility and acting to repair the harm that they had done. If the offender is not willing to do this than the issue is returned to the court system. Dan gave many examples of how victims and offenders have negotiated a deal and things worked out smoothly in the end. This program began as a probation project with the approval of the judiciary in agreement with the states attorney office. In a VOC it is