Delaware Center For Justice
About Delaware Center For Justice
Delaware Center for Justice works with people who are too often treated like case files instead of neighbors. In Wilmington and across Delaware, it offers direct services for adults and youth, from reentry support to restorative justice and family-centered programming, while also pushing reforms shaped by lived experience. For donors, the appeal is simple, this is an organization that stays with people on the hard days and also works on the rules that shape those days.
DCJ is unusual because it shows up in both places that matter most, the front lines with individuals and the policy conversations that shape the system around them. Its programs connect reentry, victim-centered conferencing, and youth and family services to reform work on pretrial practices, sentencing, collateral consequences, and restorative justice.
Programs
The concrete work this nonprofit runs. Each program may later become a fundable project.
Community Reintegration Services Program (CRSP)
Voluntary case management for adults on probation across Delaware, with support for housing, benefits, mental health and substance use services, employment, and education, plus employment support in probation and parole offices.
Conferencing
Restorative justice conferencing that brings together victims and the people who caused harm in a safe, structured setting, with trained facilitation, accountability, restitution, and community service options.
Read In, Read Out (RIRO)
A collaborative program that lets incarcerated parents record themselves reading age-appropriate books so the recording and book can be sent to their children.
S.E.L.F. (Safety, Emotion, Loss and Future)
Group sessions held in Department of Corrections facilities that address chronic stress, trauma, family and relationship problems, with reentry support and connection to community services as needed.
Transitional Reentry Services
Statewide reentry support for adults leaving Delaware Department of Correction Level 4 and 5 facilities, including mobile peer support, transportation on release, and case management for the first 90 days after release.
School Offense Diversion Program (SoDP)
An alternative to the juvenile court process for students referred after an in-school arrest, using mediation and personalized plans based on restorative justice practices.
Risks And Decisions
A gun intervention and prevention program for youth in detention, using the Phoenix New Freedom 100 curriculum and community after-care support groups.
Victim Sensitivity Program
A group program for youth in Division of Youth Rehabilitative Services facilities that helps participants understand how crime affects individuals, families, and the wider community.
Restorative Futures
A pilot program in partnership with two middle schools in Colonial School District that serves as an alternative to suspension through restorative conferencing and family wrap-around services.
Forward Thinking
A six-week interactive journaling program for youth at the New Castle County Detention Center, with weekly one-on-one support and post-release resource connections.
Youth Reentry Services
Reentry support for adjudicated youth exiting residential placement in Delaware and out of state, with pre-release programming, case management, and up to a year of wrap-around support after return to the community.
About this work
In their own words — what they do, who it reaches, and what your dollars actually fund.
Mission
We listen, we amplify, and we act to seek justice for all Delawareans through advocacy and services.
Who they serve
Justice-impacted Delawareans, including adults and youth involved in or at risk of involvement with the criminal legal system, along with victims of crime and their families.
Their impact
- Serves over 1,500 justice-impacted Delawareans annually.
- Transitional Reentry Services has served over 700 individuals.
- In the past year, DCJ reported $56,000 in assistance to returning citizens.
- In the past year, DCJ reported $20,000 in direct support to youth and families.
- The organization reports the historic passage of 11 legal system reform bills in the first half of the 150th Delaware legislature.
How your donation helps
- Policy and advocacy work
- Program expansion
- Expungement support for Delawareans with low-level criminal records
- Books and audio recordings for children of incarcerated parents
- Registration fees for the Shoplifting Alternatives course
- Case diversion from the criminal legal system
- Reentry support for returning citizens
Our story
On June 10, 1920, several hundred Delawareans gathered at Wilmington High School on Delaware Avenue to push for corrections reforms in Delaware, including a detention home for untried prisoners, a separate women’s prison, a probation and parole system, and the abolition of the whipping post. The Prisoners’ Aid Society they founded grew into today’s Delaware Center for Justice, carrying non-partisan policy advocacy and direct service forward for more than a century.
Need help?
How someone in need can access Delaware Center For Justice’s services.
DCJ does not accept walk-in clients. People seeking help can call 302-658-7174 or email center@dcjustice.org to be referred to one of the programs. Program eligibility and referrals vary by service, and some programs accept referrals from the Attorney General’s Office, DYRS, the Department of Correction, or the courts.
Stories
The people behind the work.
In their words
My son looks forward to hearing my voice and receiving books.
Reading to my daughter gave me a sense of purpose.
It reminded me I was still her father, even from the inside.
I felt closer to my son than I had in months. It helped me believe I could still be a good parent.
They helped me with getting a state ID, cell phone, numerous pieces of advice, and resources to reach out to.
People just don’t know where to start to get help.
The biggest benefit to our programs is that victims get a voice in the process, they don’t get one in the legal system.
Events
Visions of Justice Conference
annualAn annual conference focused on justice reform, reentry, clean slate implementation, and related legal-system issues.
Recognition & press
In the media
- DETV, Good Morning Delaware segment on DCJ’s 105 years of justice advocacy and reentry support
- Coastal Point, coverage of the first leg of the amendment to ban the death penalty
- NBC Philadelphia, coverage of Delaware prison rehabilitation and job skills
- WMDT, coverage of Second Chance Day and support for recently incarcerated individuals
- Delaware Public Media, coverage of DCJ’s group therapy program for healing racial trauma
Partners & funders
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about this nonprofit and how its work happens.
Can someone walk in for services?
No. DCJ does not take walk-ins. People should call 302-658-7174 or email center@dcjustice.org for a referral to a program.
Who is eligible for Community Reintegration Services Program?
Adults on probation in Delaware are eligible. Case managers in probation and parole offices help participants connect with housing, supportive benefits, mental health and substance use supports, employment, and education.
Who can access Transitional Reentry Services?
Adults leaving Delaware Department of Correction Level 4 and 5 facilities who meet Vital Core criteria, including substance use, mental health, chronic health needs, or being over 62 years of age.
How do youth get into the school and reentry programs?
It depends on the program. Referrals can come from the Attorney General’s Office, the Division of Youth Rehabilitative Services, or directly from schools.
Similar nonprofits
Other crime prevention nonprofits in DE.