Dan, I think that most of the people on this list are interested in restitution as a remedy in civil litigation, rather than in the criminal sentencing context. A web search under "restitution" (using Lycos, at http://www.lycos.com/) gave me two pages at the same gopher site, which might be of interest to you:

gopher://cyfer.esusda.gov:70/00/violence/programs/
youth/enforcement/yfmedres.ncj

contains this information:

"Mediation and Restitution Services (MARS)
Contact: Steve Goldsmith Director Mediation and Restitution Services (MARS) One Manchester Boulevard Inglewood, CA 90301
Program Type: Alternative sanction focusing on victim restitution and youth responsibility.
Target Population: Juvenile offenders. Various locations in Inglewood, Hawthorne, Lawndale, and Gardena in Los Angeles County, California.
Project Startup Date: 1992
Information Source: Provided by the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS).

Evaluation Information: Evaluations indicate that 100 percent of juveniles and victims were glad they participated in MARS; 97 percent would recommend mediation; 95 percent of victims rated the process as "good or excellent"; 70 percent of the juveniles rated it "good or excellent"; and 30 percent rated it "fair." Since the program's inception, an agreement has been reached in 98 percent of mediations and only 5 percent of youths have been rearrested for the same crime.

Annual Budget: $60,000.
Sources of Funding: California Community Foundation, County of Los Angeles Delinquency Prevention Program, Pacific Telesis Foundation, Weingart Foundation, Los Angeles Bar Foundation, South Bay Rotary Club, State of California Office of Criminal Justice, United Way, Hollywood Park Racing Charities, Southbay PIC/City of Inglewood Employment Development Department, and the cities of Gardena, Hawthorne, and Lawndale.

Program Description: MARS, a program of the Centinela Valley Juvenile Diversion Project (CVJDP), assists injured parties and juvenile offenders in working out an agreement for repayment of the victim's losses caused by the offender. MARS assists the offender in fulfilling the agreement by referral to job and/or community services placement programs and monitors the progress toward completion. MARS operates in conjunction with the school-based mediation program (STARS).

About 130 offenders are referred annually to voluntarily participate. Criteria for selections are limited to first- or second-time offenders whose crime lends itself to restitution, such as repayment of property loss or damage, and to those who are interested in meeting with the victim to "set things right." Parents are urged to be active participants by supporting the juvenile and his/her efforts to resolve the matter.

Two trained, certified volunteer mediators conduct about 100 confidential meetings annually where both the injured party and the youth tell their stories. The meeting lasts about 1 1/2 hours, including a 20- to 30-minute orientation to explain the procedures prior to the mediation. An agreement, if reached, is written, detailing how losses will be repaid, such as through moneys, work, community service, or other means agreeable to both parties.

Responsibility for the success or failure lies with the participants. If participation is declined at any time in the process, or if an agreement is not reached or fulfilled for any reason, the case is returned to the original agency for action."

The second is:

gopher://cyfer.esusda.gov:70/00/violence/programs/ youth/enforcement/yftuscal.ncj

with this information:

"Tuscaloosa County Juvenile Court Restitution Program

Contact: John Upchurch, Ph.D.
Director of Court Services
Tuscaloosa County Juvenile Court
6001 12th Avenue East
Tuscaloosa, AL 35405
Tel: 205-349-3870 ext. 309
Fax: 205-349-3870

Program Type: Alternative sanctions based on restitution to victims.
Target Population: Juvenile offenders, up to age 18.
Setting: Various locations in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Project Startup Date: 1987.
Information Source: Provided by the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS).

Annual Budget: $74,948.
Sources of Funding: Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, Law Enforcement Planning Agency Division.

Program Description: The Tuscaloosa County Juvenile Court Restitution Program offers an alternative sanction by balancing restitution to victims with offender accountability. The program uses three approaches to restitution: (1) monetary payment, (2) community service work, and (3) paid employment. A fourth component, direct victim service, in which the offender works for the victim, is favored by program administrators but readily accepted by few victims because of their reluctance to get involved with some offenders.

Initially restitution was limited to first-time or minor offenders, but admission of serious offenders led to equally promising results. The program does not take offenders who have a violent history, who have severe emotional problems, or who are chronic drug and alcohol abusers.

The juvenile and his/her parent must sign a contractual agreement that spells out the nature of the restitution, the number of hours of labor or community service to be performed, and the date of completion as determined by the Tuscaloosa County Restitution Program. Juvenile offenders may find their own work or may accept a job developed for pay by the program's staff. Unpaid community service work fills the requirement when there is no individual victim and no out-of-pocket losses have resulted. Victims participate by being kept informed of the status of their case and participating in determining the amount and type of restitution. Youths too young to have a work permit must perform community service work, and hard-to-place offenders perform community service work in a crew under close supervision of the work supervisor. When an offender works for an employer for pay, he or she pays two-thirds of the money received to the County Clerk, who in turn distributes it to the victim.

Creating the program raised issues of liability among court personnel since the restitution undertaking would become part of the court program. Close supervision and admission guidelines have lessened such concerns. A restitution coordinator, job developer, and work supervisor work with the probation department and oversee details related to each case. Allaying community concerns over public safety is accomplished through continual community awareness campaigns that emphasize how offenders' time is occupied and supervised either in paid labor or unpaid community service.

The program costs considerably less than probation ($500 versus $750 per case) or commitment to the State Department of Youth Services, which costs upwards of $30,000 for a year of treatment. The program is a collaboration between local attorneys, vocational educators, State employment counsellors, parents, business leaders, and university personnel."

Maybe you should contact the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, which seems to be the source of all of this.

Hope this is of some use to you,

Lionel Smith
Faculty of Law, University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2H5
Tel 403 492 2599; Fax 403 492 4924