Washington County Community Circles

WCCC, Inc.'s mission is repair harm to victims, hold clients accountable and to build a better community.

For 25 years, Washington County Community Circles has been helping people who have committed crimes change their lives. 

Victims find restoration. 

People who have committed crimes learn to make better choices.

Conflicts get resolved. 

Marriages are strengthened.

Lives are repaired.

People find hope. 

And we all live in a more connected and safer community.

Community Circles, also known as Peacemaking Circles, are a community-directed process most commonly used for addressing issues surrounding local incidents of crime.  Circles are a restorative justice process that bring together community - the people affected by crime - to actively participate in the response to violence and social problems. Community volunteers work with clients referred from the court system and victims, if they choose to participate. Circles in Washington County are created in partnership with the justice system, and create a respectful space to support victims, develop sentencing agreements for clients, and empower all interested community members to work toward preventing future occurrences of crime.  Circles also take referrals directly from the community, such as neighborhood disputes, school conflict, domestic abuse victim support, or general community conflict resolution.

Circles derive their strength from community participation and are guided by trained volunteers called Keepers. We are a value-driven organization that has a strong volunteer base that is made up of local volunteers that care about their community.

Strong community support results in low recidivism of clients who go through the Circles process (11% over two years - including those who were unsuccessful in Circle).  Our recidivism evaluation demonstrated low recidivism that lasts over ten years (over 7 in 10 were law abiding 10 years later).

For more information about our process and how WCCC has impacted Washington County for the better, please visit us at www.peacemakingcircles.org .