Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko, Probation Officer Chris Modika and representatives from Interface Children & Family Services will speak at a Feb. 17 Community Forum about a recently established county program for nonviolent juvenile offenders called Transforming Harm to Healing.

The Restorative Justice program, established last July, brings together eligible juvenile offenders and their victims in a safe environment where victims can express their feelings about how the crime impacted them. Over a period of months, the offender learns to accept responsibility and reaches agreement with the victim about restoration, which can include an apology letter, volunteer work or a restitution payment.

Another goal of the program is to reduce the disparity in rates of incarceration that youths of color face when compared to their white counterparts. The DA's office and the Probation Agency are collaborating to identify cases that are appropriate to divert from Juvenile Court to the justice program, run by community partner Interface Children & Family Services.

The Community Forum, to be presented online via Zoom at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 17, is a program of Chalice Unitarian Universal Fellowship of the Conejo Valley. The speakers will detail how Transforming Harm to Healing serves the community.

Representing Interface at the forum will be Heather Garcia, Victor Juarez and Sarah Mendez. Interface is a nonprofit social services agency that provides free services to address the physical and emotional needs of 59,000 Ventura County residents per year.

The online forum is free but donations are welcome to support the programs. To register for a Zoom link to the event, visit forum.chaliceuu.org. For information, go to that website or contact Randall Edwards via e-mail at forum@chaliceuu.org or through the church office at (805) 498-9548.