A Restorative Literacy for Justice-Involved Youth

WHAT IS IT?

Beyond the Margins: Restorative Literacy for Rising Voices is a restorative literacy initiative that supports justice-involved youth through storytelling, skill-building, and self-expression—grounded in trauma-informed, culturally sustaining practices, and interprofessional support.

It is held weekly for 12 weeks each semester, culminating in a final showcase for the community.

Download the Toolkit

Governors State University

12-Week Interprofessional Program

BEYOND THE MARGINS

CORE PILLARS OF BTM: RESTORATIVE LITERACY

Structured Literacy Instruction
Targeted, evidence-based reading and writing support to build foundational reading skills and confidence.

Interprofessional Collaboration
Students and faculty in Speech-Language Pathology, Social Work, Counseling, and Special Education co-facilitate each session.

Restorative Circles
Each session opens and closes with space for reflection, connection, and healing-centered dialogue.

Creative Showcase
Youth will develop and present a culminating narrative project—spoken word, visual storytelling, podcast, or multimedia, etc.

Trauma-Informed Approach
Session design integrates emotional regulation strategies and relational support tailored to youth experiences.

Identity Affirming Curriculum
Lessons validate students’ cultural and linguistic backgrounds while building bridges to academic success and self-advocacy.

WHY RESTORATIVE LITERACY

Because literacy is a gateway to identity, agency, and opportunity. This program centers youth voices and uses restorative literacy to reduce recidivism, promote healing, and disrupt systemic inequities.

GOALS OF THE PROGRAM

To build reading comprehension, oral reading fluency, and written expression while cultivating youth voice, reflection, and identity.

For more information, contact Dr. Camille Byrd O'Quin at coquin@govst.edu.

Weekly from 5 - 7 PM

Governors State University Literacy Zone

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds. One of the books read and shared as a foundation.

Read the GovState Newsroom Article on Beyond the Margins

Click here to read the article

An illustration of a tree as the ecosystem for restorative justice

Restorative Literacy: A Justice-Oriented Framework

Restorative literacy, as an integrated and reflexive practice, reimagines literacy intervention through a lens of linguistic justice, disability justice, relational pedagogy, accessible design, and trauma-informed pedagogy. It is rooted in core beliefs that seek to repair harm from a legacy of systemic inequities in literacy access. This framework shifts from a punitive, deficit-based literacy model to an asset-based, justice-oriented, and community-building one. The tenets of restorative literacy uphold multilingual and multimodal literacy as a human right, a social act, and a site of power and justice.

Implementing a Youth Justice Literacy Program

Professionals working in the Youth Justice field have recognized for years that youth who are struggling with school and their education often have literacy issues dating back to their early days in school. They struggle with their behavior and often feel hopeless that they cannot learn. This not only results in behavior problems, but also truancy and involvement in the justice system.

In Cook County, the Juvenile Redeploy Program, which is a program designed for higher risk youth in jeopardy of being committed to the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice, set out to implement a program that can address some of these issues. Orange County In Orlando Florida had recently established a literacy program so we reached out to them for information. They had collaborated on the program with the Communication Disorders team at University of Central Florida.

Cook County reached out to local university, Governors State University, and spoke with their
Communication Disorders team along with their social justice team. We were linked with literacy expert, Dr. Camille O’Quin who collaborated with Redeploy Director, Mark Werner; GSU Social Justice Director Dr. Phyllis West; Special Education Professor, Dr. Sara Jozwik; and Social Work Professor, Cheri Gibbs.

This workgroup collaborated for approximately 6 months to design a restorative based program that aimed to address multiple issues including literacy with a restorative focus. Youth also received social work assistance along with ensuring that they set goals for their future including a capstone/showcase that they presented at a celebration event at the culmination of the 12-week program. A core principle of this effort was ensuring that all voices across disciplines contributed meaningfully to developing a
program tailored to the needs of Cook County.

Youth reported that they felt successful in this program. They developed positive relationships with the GovState professors and interns and enjoyed attending the weekly program. Youth expressed renewed excitement about learning and reading.