This article features Community Service Foundation/Buxmont Academy (CSF Buxmont) school, in Trevose, Pennsylvania, which operates alternative schools using restorative practices. CSF Buxmont operates eight schools, 16 foster group homes, and probation and drug-and-alcohol supervision programs for youth, which are demonstration programs of the International Institute for Restorative Practices. CSF has been helping youth to turn their lives around since 1977, through a supportive atmosphere of learning and intensive group and individual counseling, incorporating the principles of restorative practices. The restorative approach means that those in authority at CSF Buxmont work with the students rather than doing things to them or for them. Unlike an authoritarian, punitive, or overly permissive approach, the participatory or restorative model enables the students to restore relationships and build community. The restorative model shows the youth that he or she has control over and responsibility for his or her own life. Most people will embrace this approach which allows them more autonomy and participation in decision making. At CSF Buxmont, this learning happens in a safe place.