Montana
CRYJ — A model for youth restorative justice in Montana
About 200 teens from around the valley walk through the door at the Center for Youth Restorative Justice each year to reconcile offenses that affected their communities.
Spending one to three months working on accountability, roughly 95% of participants will walk out that door having completed “restorative agreements,” entered into by the teens and their families, according to CRYJ Executive Director Catherine Gunderson.
While moving to 110 East Idaho Street a few years ago increased the nonprofit’s visibility in Kalispell, Gunderson hopes it also translates to people learning more about restorative justice and what it offers teens in their community. The nonprofit was honored last year by the Montana Board of Crime Control.
Restorative justice seeks to reduce the number of teens entering the justice system or time spent in school suspensions. Through a restorative justice program, teens work on acknowledging and taking responsibility for their actions; identifying factors contributing/leading to an offense; when possible, making amends with victims and engaging in personal growth and development.
The Kalispell-based nonprofit serves teens referred to the program by probation officers, school resource officers, or school administrators. Most teens in trouble with the law do not go to court. What types of offenses or issues teens get referred to CRYJ for is a mix. As a teen, many incidents arise out of impulsive decisions. In addition to youth court referrals tied to illegal activities, CRYJ addresses a wider range of harmful behaviors affecting today’s youth such as vaping and bullying.
“It’s basically a way for youth to have an alternative accountability process. It is youth court diversion, meaning it’s intended to be a way for youth, first-time offenders or otherwise, to not have a permanent record and have a chance to learn from an experience before going sort of deeper into this system,” Gunderson said.
“It’s sort of like we’re at a place when youth are sort of just dipping their toe in there, or starting to get into trouble for things and that’s sort of the trajectory [with no intervention],” she said.
Teens who decide to participate in the program may not see charges filed, school suspension time reduced and won’t have to engage further with probation or court. There is no fee for youths to participate in the optional program.
Gunderson attributes the 95% completion rate to the individualized plans CRYJ creates for each participant.
The process starts with a family conference where staff gets to know a teen to build a plan.
“What are the supports that they need? What is the self-reflection that they need on choices that they have made? What resources might they need to be connected to, to feel more a part of the community whether that’s the school community or Kalispell? Managing family dynamics, navigating friend groups, stressors, mental health — all of these things have such an impact on our behavior,” Gunderson said.
THE QUONSET hut on Idaho Street serving as home for CRYJ opens to a large, brightly-lit room divided by various seating arrangements conducive to working with small groups, and a kitchen, giving it a homey feel. Throughout the building are photos of past participants, some of whom still live and work in the community today.
The goal was to create a comfortable space for teens to talk about difficult topics and share personal experiences in facilitated discussions, which they may not be used to doing. It is not therapy, however, Gunderson said, but rather an opportunity for self-reflection and introspection in a supportive environment. Group discussions and activities are also an opportunity to practice respectful, active listening and communication.
A slate of upcoming peer workshops is posted for teens to join. Topics focus on what’s relevant to teens or what participants want to learn more about such as substance use, mental health (what is depression; what is anxiety), safe dating, navigating healthy friendships, school culture, what are impulsive decisions, what is anger management, conflict resolution and life skills such as cooking.
A multipurpose area in the back of the building contains an array of art supplies, yoga mats, fidget toys, a spinning wheel of questions and a wooden block tower with questions written on each block. Art created by the teens hangs on the walls.
“We love questions,” Gunderson said, smiling. “It’s an icebreaker or a teen can grab one, read the questions, reflect on it.”
There will be personal conversations where staff members may be the first people a teen might open up to about issues such as anxiety or drug use, for example. Staff will facilitate the discussion to get participants to think more deeply about their habits, however, CRYJ is not a residential or drug treatment or therapy program. Staff will ensure teens receive the services they need. Rather than just handing a teen a business card or a phone number they may never call, staff will make the call to ensure an appointment is scheduled with the appropriate provider.
“I think people forget it’s a kid,” Gunderson said.
The program’s ultimate goal is for teens to make amends with victims deeply impacted by an incident. Sometimes facing a victim is the scariest part of the program, according to Gunderson. She shared an anecdote about a teen who shoplifted and didn’t get caught, but the teen’s parents insisted on going to the store to return the item and apologize and the teen asked if they could go to the police instead.
“That’s what restorative justice is. It’s not just that a law was broken. It’s that there was a relationship involved, trust involved,” Gunderson said. “It can be way harder to face that than have a paper ticket and a fine,” she said.
Yet, the experience can have an impact.
“… It can be the most profound experience for everyone involved to understand where each other is coming from, and for a teen to realize an impulsive decision has consequences, or has an impact that I didn’t even think of. Understanding that is, has a huge impact on whether or not they do it in the future,” Gunderson said.
When making amends is not possible, teens may participate in a Community Impact Circle, which is a structured conversation between CRYJ families — to discuss harm, personal and family impact, resiliency and building community relationships.
“So there’s still that sense of like hearing from other youth and adults about incidents and how they’re processing it and impact and moving forward and the same types of reflections,” she said.
COMMUNITY BUILDING is also an integral piece of CRYJ programming. A sense of belonging to the community beyond family or school is often not in the immediate purview of teens. To help teens understand they are community members, CRYJ partners with volunteers and businesses to participate in events like cleaning up graffiti, for example, or projects such as assembling grief care packages for families affected by the deaths of teens in a car crash.
“It gives youth a sense of purpose and belonging,” she said.
This year, CRYJ established a three-month paid internship for teens who went through the program.
“They are really set up well to mentor and help with creating workshop content they feel is important, or do a special project, or be in our group settings and … bring that perspective and maturity,” she said.
When teens walk out of CRYJ they receive a “completion bag” filled with journals, resource books and goodies, but the hope from staff is that they leave with a renewed sense of purpose, motivation, self-awareness and empathy.
“Let’s help you take responsibility for what happened and then let’s help you think about who you want to be as you walk out the door,” she said.
CRYJ IS Montana’s only youth-based restorative justice organization and is being looked at as a model to replicate in other communities, according to the Montana Board of Crime Control.
Last year, CRYJ received the Montana Board of Crime Control’s Innovative Community Improvement Award. CRYJ received the award based on its strong collaboration with schools, juvenile probation, school resource officers, and the courts to provide alternatives to suspension, expulsion, and referrals to the juvenile justice system, said Rachel Gemar, a juvenile justice specialist and grant coordinator with the Montana Board of Crime Control.
“CRYJ has been so successful because of the many years of consistent program development, community education, and cross-system collaboration led by Catherine Gunderson and her team. MBCC supports the replication of CRYJ’s program model, but we also recognize that it will take time for local jurisdictions to build sustainable programs,” Gemar said.
CRY J’s success has helped fuel a growing interest in restorative practices across the state and was a program model for the crime control board’s Delinquency Prevention Program Grant, notes Gemar.
“The grant was designed to divert at-risk and justice-involved youth using a combination of restorative practices, mentoring, and coordination of care,” she said.
For more information visit https://restorativeyouthjustice.org.
Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.
Casey Kreider
A staff member asks a teen to reflect on the impact of the incident that brought them to Center for Restorative Youth Justice, ways to repair any harm caused and how to move forward in a positive way. (Photo provided by CRYJ) An area for meetings and conversation at the Center for Restorative Youth Justice in Kalispell on Wednesday, April 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
CRYJ teens work alongside community volunteers to clean up graffiti in a pedestrian tunnel in Kalispell. (Photo provided by CRYJ) A small portion of the artwork on display at the Center for Restorative Youth Justice in Kalispell on Wednesday, April 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at June 20, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from June 20 drawing
16-20-44-48-50, Powerball: 15, Power Play: 2
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Lotto America numbers from June 20 drawing
08-14-31-41-52, Star Ball: 04, ASB: 03
Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from June 20 drawing
09-22-25-26, Bonus: 11
Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Montana Cash numbers from June 20 drawing
05-22-28-30-34
Check Montana Cash payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the Montana Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky For Life: 8:38 p.m. MT daily.
- Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Big Sky Bonus: 7:30 p.m. MT daily.
- Powerball Double Play: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Montana Cash: 8 p.m. MT on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.
Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Great Falls Tribune editor. You can send feedback using this form.
Montana
Planning For Life After Coal Cost a Montana County Commissioner His Seat – Inside Climate News
Robert Pancratz couldn’t believe it.
The Musselshell County commissioner had been defeated in the Republican primary for his seat by a two-to-one margin earlier this month. Mark Olson, who lives in Musselshell and serves as the undersheriff in Golden Valley County, won by 26 percentage points.
“That just blew me away,” Pancratz said. “All of my campaign, I had not a hint that there was that much opposition.”
At stake, from Pancratz’s perspective, is the fiscal future of his community, which includes Roundup, Montana, home to Montana’s only longwall coal mine. The mine, owned and operated by Signal Peak Energy, sits on the eastern side of the continental divide in a staunchly conservative part of the state, where its presence provides jobs and its profits generate taxable revenue for local governments. (The vast majority of its coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, goes to markets in Asia.)
But that revenue could potentially be diminished by tens of millions, according to calculations by Pancratz, if a bill introduced by U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., passes Congress. The Crow Revenue Act would convey federally held coal to Signal Peak through a land transfer to a private intermediary, depriving Musselshell County of its share of the taxes Signal Peak Energy pays to mine coal on federal land.
If the Crow Revenue Act does not pass Congress, Signal Peak says it could be forced to shut down if it loses a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana challenging the “energy emergency” the Trump administration used to grant the mine access to federal coal. That outcome would wipe out all the mine’s tax revenue and hundreds of jobs, the company claims. This month’s election hinged on Pancratz’s position on the bill and, by extension, the mine.
Musselshell County’s three commissioners, Mike Goffena, Mike Turley and Pancratz support keeping the mine open. But they also fear Musselshell County would need to raise taxes and cut services to balance its books if the Crow Revenue Act passes as written. After studying the county’s finances, Pancratz, who works as a risk analyst consultant, concluded that the county could lose as much as $11.6 million if the Crow Revenue Act passes and the price of coal is high. The commissioners have lobbied for changes to the bill that would guarantee the county some revenue from the land transfer.
Pancratz says he was just doing his job.
“As a risk manager, I have to develop a contingency plan for the possibility that the long-term stream of coal revenue could be disrupted or ended,” he said. “We needed to have a plan to effectively transition to other revenue sources. When I used the word transition, they took that as I was an environmentalist that was against coal.”
“Why anybody would have a problem with that is baffling to me. But that’s what happened.”
According to Pancratz, Signal Peak Energy branded the men as environmentalists who want to see the company shut down forever and this willful mischaracterization played a large role in his defeat.
“The picture they painted of me was totally false,” he said.
In a recording of a commissioner meeting posted to a local Facebook group by a Signal Peak Energy employee less than a month before the election, Pancratz, Goffena and Turley can be heard strategizing how to express their concerns about the Crow Revenue Act to Daines, whom they describe as unresponsive to their concerns.
Pancratz suggests asking for a $100 million endowment to transition from coal to “scare” Daines and Signal Peak Energy. Turley states that with funding at that level, they wouldn’t care if the mine was open or not.
“Exactly,” Pancratz responded.
Comments on the video show viewers expressing outrage that the commissioners would “play chicken” with the future of the mine, which provides hundreds of jobs in the surrounding area.
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Pancratz said the conversation was recorded without the commissioners’ knowledge. Montana is a two-party consent state, meaning all parties must be aware of and consent to a recording, but he allowed that it was possible one of the commissioners forgot to close a virtual public meeting after it concluded.
Pancratz said the conversation occurred when the commissioners found out there would be no money in the Crow Revenue Act for the county. The bill’s supporters, including Signal Peak Energy, had told them that the county would not lose any revenue under the bill, he said.
“We were upset because we felt we’d been lied to,” Pancratz said.
Signal Peak Energy did not respond to a written message and phone call seeking comment. For a time after Signal Peak took over the mine in the late 2000s, it was plagued by malfeasance, including embezzlement, a faked kidnapping and safety and environmental violations, according to reporting by The New York Times.
Olson said he entered the race due to a “lack of transparency” from the commissioners over how the county was spending its money.
But the mine played a role in his decision to run, too. As he was weighing his options, Olson said his cousin, Alan Olson, a former state legislator and former executive director of the Montana Petroleum Association, visited him and urged him to run to support the mine. After that conversation, he was convinced the mine’s survival depended on the Crow Revenue Act passing, and that trying to amend it would jeopardize the legislation.
“The more money we can get for the county, the better, but I don’t think it’s worth risking the mine closing,” Olson said. Losing federal revenue was better than losing all the jobs and the tax base if the mine closes, he concluded.
Olson added that Parker Phipps, Signal Peak Energy’s CEO, has briefed him on the mine’s fiscal relationship with Musselshell County.
Olson’s background in law enforcement could add a new perspective to the county commissioner meetings, given Goffena and Turley’s background in ranching, he said, but the minutiae of the county’s budget will be new to him.
“I am by no means an expert in any of this stuff,” he said.
Some worry that, with the mine facing a lawsuit, an unpredictable global coal market and the uncertain future of the Crow Revenue Act, the commissioners cannot afford to lose momentum in their efforts to attract new industries to the area.
Olson’s win in the primary will “set [economic diversification planning] back long term,” Nicole Borner, a former Musselshell County commissioner, who thinks Olson was hand-picked by the Signal Peak Energy to run and is not informed about what the job entails.
“We will always just have a few crumbs to duct tape a few issues,” she said. “We’ll never be able to fix the prior forty years of being in a coal bust and our infrastructure just literally falling apart.”
Olson will likely run unopposed in the general election.
In his remaining time in office, Pancratz said he will continue to push for economic diversification in Musselshell County. He holds no animosity towards Olson, who calls Pancratz “a wonderful guy.” Instead, he laments not addressing concerns over his position on the mine sooner in the campaign. But he believes Signal Peak Energy’s political and social influence—the company operates a charity in the region—is what swayed the election.
“You can’t say anything that even remotely implies that you’re trying to prepare the county for the possibility that coal revenue may not be steady or high … There’s this attitude that the county is in debt to that coal mine. And the message I tried to get out is, it’s more the reverse,” Pancratz said.
“I personally don’t believe the mine really cares about the county.”
About This Story
Perhaps you noticed: This story, like all the news we publish, is free to read. That’s because Inside Climate News is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. We do not charge a subscription fee, lock our news behind a paywall, or clutter our website with ads. We make our news on climate and the environment freely available to you and anyone who wants it.
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Jake Bolster reports on Wyoming and the West for Inside Climate News. Previously, he worked as a freelancer, covering climate change, energy, and the environment across the United States. He holds a Masters in Journalism from Columbia University.
The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at June 19, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Mega Millions numbers from June 19 drawing
13-16-21-26-50, Mega Ball: 12
Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from June 19 drawing
05-12-14-30, Bonus: 03
Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from June 19 drawing
02-20-28-51-54, Bonus: 02
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the Montana Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky For Life: 8:38 p.m. MT daily.
- Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Big Sky Bonus: 7:30 p.m. MT daily.
- Powerball Double Play: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Montana Cash: 8 p.m. MT on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.
Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Great Falls Tribune editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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