{"id":10254,"date":"2026-04-23T21:42:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T01:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/peacebuilder\/?post_type=cjp_podcast&#038;p=10254"},"modified":"2026-04-23T21:42:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T01:42:11","slug":"24-maria-banks-transforming-justice-for-students","status":"publish","type":"cjp_podcast","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/peacebuilder\/podcast\/24-maria-banks-transforming-justice-for-students\/","title":{"rendered":"24. Maria Banks: Transforming Justice for Students"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"EP. 24 Maria Banks: Transforming Justice for Students\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JJlKeNMNlZQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In this episode of the Peacebuilder Podcast, host Diego Crespo sits down with Maria Banks, a truancy and outreach coordinator with nearly two decades of experience in the education system, to explore how restorative justice can transform the way schools respond to student absence and disengagement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maria shares her journey from Washington, D.C., through military service, to her current work in Pennsylvania, where she supports students and families by identifying the deeper barriers behind truancy. Rather than placing blame on students or parents, her work centers on collaboration, bringing together families, educators, and community members to better understand the challenges students face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She also speaks candidly about one of the most difficult parts of her role: taking students and families to court. For Maria, this punitive approach fails to address root causes and instead reinforces harmful systems. Her commitment to restorative justice comes from years of working with youth and witnessing how traditional systems often marginalize rather than support them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Drawing from her experience at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP), Maria reflects on pivotal moments, that reshaped how she understands healing, belonging, and justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Looking ahead, her vision is clear: to create more equitable and restorative educational spaces through practices like reentry circles, ensuring that students returning to school feel supported, valued, and capable of success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Guest(s)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-peacebuilder-online-profiles-block wp-block-profiles col-1\"><div class=\"profile profile-0\"><div class=\"profile-media\"><div class=\"no-profile-image\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"profile-content\"><h3 class=\"profile-name\">MARIA BANKS<\/h3><p class=\"profile-bio\"><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Transcript<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":312,"featured_media":10255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","season":[1734],"class_list":["post-10254","cjp_podcast","type-cjp_podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","season-season-four"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/peacebuilder\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cjp_podcast\/10254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/peacebuilder\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cjp_podcast"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/peacebuilder\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cjp_podcast"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/peacebuilder\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/312"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/peacebuilder\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10254"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/peacebuilder\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/peacebuilder\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"season","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/peacebuilder\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/season?post=10254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}