Join the Essex Community Justice Center for a screening of Coming Home followed by a discussion panel with Director Bess O’Brien and CoSA Researcher Kathy Fox.

Coming Home is a documentary film focused on five people returning back to their Vermont communities from prison. The film focuses on the innovative COSA program (Circles of Support and Accountability) that helps reintegrate folks back into their community and their daily lives. The COSA program is run through Vermont’s Community Justice Centers and is part of the restorative justice model. COSA’s are made up of 3-4 trained volunteers that wrap around the person reentering their community (referred to as “core member”) and meet weekly for a year. The purpose of CoSA is to ensure that there are no more victims while supporting and connecting the core member to their community in a positive way, help reduce recidivism and enhance community safety.

Watch the strong bonds of support, friendship and accountability develop within their CoSAs and watch them create new bonds, make amends with old friends and family, work on their recovery from addiction, get new jobs, housing and start their lives from scratch. The film follows the ups and downs of these five individuals and the powerful relationships that they build with their COSA team volunteers.