The Castlegar and District Restorative Justice Forum has been suspended.
The program aims to rehabilitate first time offenders by keeping the matter out of courts by admitting guilt and meeting with the victim to repair any harm.
Coordinator Inga Lamont says the program runs on referrals from the RCMP but they have dried up.
Lamont says a lot of the recent offenders are not first timers so they aren’t eligible for the forum.
She adds the program is remarkably efficient however as in the court system re-offences occur 66% of the time while with their system it is only 7%.