Welcome to MARRS and We Are Out Of This World!

MARRS stands for Mediation and Restitution/Reconciliation Services. MARRS was launched in 1994 and is a ministry of the Memphis Leadership Foundation (MFL) in partnership with Christ United Methodist Church (CUMC).

The mission of MARRS is to intervene in the lives of juvenile offenders to help them turn from crime to Christ.

MARRS works with first and second time juvenile offenders who have been referred to the program by Juvenile Court of Memphis and Shelby County for offenses such as vandalism, theft of property, burglary, trespassing, and minor assault. There are not too many ministries or programs like us around. We exist to help address and reduce juvenile delinquency and crime in the Memphis and Shelby County area. But ultimately, our goal is to evangelize and disciple these youth by introducing them to the Gospel and leading them into a closer relationship with Jesus Christ. Therefore, we have a unique opportunity to combine juvenile justice matters with a faith mission and message. The combination works and we at MARRS can attest to that and are grateful that it does. We use a restorative justice approach to processing our cases with an emphasis on victim-offender mediation.

Personally, I like to make it known that our MARRS youth are not your typical delinquent or criminal offender. Most of the offenders who are referred to MARRS are your average youth who make a bad decision to steal out of a retail store or have been influenced by their peers to do something crazy like spray paint their neighbor’s storage house or take another kids bike out of their yard. They could easily be my kids, or your friend’s neighbor’s kid, or one of the youth in your church. All of us at one time or another have done something wild and crazy and may have gotten away with it. These kids happened to have gotten caught. Had they not, they just might attempt to do something even crazier, more serious, or even more violent. So, it’s a good thing that they got caught and even better that they have some place where they can come to handle this matter without having to go through the court system.

The M & M approach
I like to think of MARRS as having an M & M approach to accomplishing or program goals: Mediation and Ministry – Mediation in regards to bringing the victim, the juvenile offender and his/her parents face-to-face, along with a volunteer mediator who facilitates the mediation process. With the help of volunteer mediators, the goal is to negotiate a restitution agreement that “makes things right” between the victim and the offender. The opportunity for the offender to “make things right” builds self-esteem and undergirds a sense of justice and community that we hope will stay with them forever. MARRS is Ministry by ensuring that the victim is heard through their participation in this process, the offender successfully completes his/her restitution, and the offender is reconciled with the community at large by “doing something positive and giving back” to the person and/or community that he/she offended. All stakeholders benefit from participating in this restorative justice process that emphasizes victim-offender mediation. MARRS even goes beyond the limits because the program is voluntary and of no cost to the participants. Now that really is out of the norm.

In essence, the combination of mediation and ministry lends to the success of the program. Our annual recidivism rate normally ranges from 13-15% but in 2003, Juvenile Court apprised MARRS with a recidivism rate of slightly more that 8%. Hey, that is far out! compared to local, state, and national statistics that document over 50% of juvenile offenders who do not complete some type of intervention program will eventually become habitual criminals. We all win!

Mediation and Restitution/Reconciliation: 2 Key Phases
The MARRS program consists of two phases. Phase I – Mediation entails a coming together of the victim, the juvenile offender and his/her parents, and volunteer mediators in order to set up a meeting. The trained mediators facilitate the mediation sessions and assist in negotiating a restitution agreement between the victim and the offender. MARRS monitors the successful completion of the restitution agreement and mentors the youth to prevent future criminal behavior.

In Phase II – Restitution and Outreach (Ministry) takes place. Because most offenders are too young to make monetary restitution, many restitution agreements require community service hours. The MARRS staff oversees the completion of the restitution to ensure its success. Also, during this phase, mentoring and relationship building takes place between the youth and MARRS staff and partners so that the youth will have a friend who cares, listens, and who can relate to them. The relationships as well as the outreach activities increase the likelihood that the offenders are not re-arrested or referred back to Juvenile Court. Ministry is demonstrated through relationships, reconciliation, outreach, and Bible Study. MARRS provides the offender with an opportunity to participate in positive, productive, and fun activities in his/her neighborhood and in the community. We develop a relationship with them by being where they are and by doing the things they like to do, and by exposing them to some things that they have not been accustomed to. We hang out in the mall, go out to eat, attend high school, college, and professional sports events, go camping, and maybe even form youth sports teams for competition.

When restitution is completed, MARRS forwards the case back to Juvenile Court. By allowing MARRS to handle the case, the offense is not listed on the youth offender’s legal record as long as he/she doesn’t commit any major offenses (felonies or misdemeanors).