Brooklyn Justice
Initiatives [replaces pre-trial] detention with vigorous monitoring and links to voluntary services. Program participants are recruited from the pool of misdemeanor defendants in Brooklyn who are
not recommended for release at arraignment by the Criminal Justice Agency.
The
program requires defendants to check in frequently to ensure they return to
court for their scheduled appearances. All participants are screened to determine their social service
needs and are referred to appropriate services offered by a network
of community-based providers.
More than 220 individuals participated in Brooklyn
Justice Initiatives’ supervised release program during 2014. More than eight out of 10 avoided
detention while their cases were pending.
Brooklyn
Justice Initiatives offers a range of other programs that …include alternatives to incarceration and special services
for juvenile defendants and defendants arrested
for prostitution.
Peacemaking is a traditional Native American approach
to justice
that focuses on healing and restoration rather than punishment. In 2013, the Red Hook Community
Justice Center launched its Peacemaking
Program, the first initiative to establish this tradition
in a state court setting. The program is part of the Center for Court Innovation’s Tribal Justice
Exchange, which works
with tribal communities to develop their
justice systems and also disseminates best practices developed
in Indian Country
to municipalities across the United States.
Peacemaking cases in Red Hook bring together those affected by a dispute or
crime to reach a consensus agreement
for restitution and repair.
Sessions are facilitated by trained peacemakers from the community.
Preliminary
results from an evaluation of the Peacemaking Program found that 80 percent of
cases achieved a consensus resolution and dismissal of the charges.
With the help of a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, the Center is in the process of expanding its peacemaking work
to Syracuse.
Through the Brownsville Anti-Violence Project, the Justice
Center works to combat local
violence. Monthly meetings bring parolees
with a history of gun use or possession together
with social service
providers, neighborhood
residents, and police. Parolees are welcomed back to the community with a joint
message of opportunity and responsibility. Social
service providers discuss
services that can help parolees
get their lives
back on track, while
law enforcement emphasizes the consequences of continued gun usage. Between
2012 and 2014, 421 parolees attended the meetings; only 11 have been re-arrested for gun-related offenses,
and none for shootings.
Research has shown that when defendants and litigants
perceive the court process
to be fair, they are more likely to comply with court orders
and follow the law in the future—regardless of whether they win or lose their
case.
The
Harlem Parole Reentry
Court helps parolees
returning to the Harlem community make the transition from life in prison to responsible citizenship. Through a
partnership with the Interfaith Center of New York and Network in the Community, the Reentry Court
developed a leadership training program that teaches presenta- tion skills to formerly incarcerated persons. Graduates have spoken at events across
the tri-state area.
Since 1993, the
Midtown Community Court has been experimenting with new approaches to low-level offending. To strengthen services
for those in need of job training and parenting skills, the Midtown Community
Court created UPNEXT, which offers
employment and life-skills training, with a particular focus on the needs of non-cus- todial
fathers. The program served 176 people in 2014, offering intensive case
management, counseling, job development
assistance, and support
connecting with their
children.
Child support cases are difficult cases
for courts, particularly when jobs are scarce. The terms of a child sup- port order
can quickly become
onerous to an unemployed parent.
As non-custodial parents
fall further and further
behind in their payments, they often disengage, depriving their children of
emotional and financial support. Located in Kings County Family Court, the Brooklyn Parent
Support Program helps non-custodial parents meet their
child support obligations and build stronger
relationships with their
children by linking
participants with a range of employment and social services,
including job-skills development, vocational training, case man- agement, family life skills classes,
continuing education and literacy classes, and child care. The 35 parents who graduated from the program
in 2014 provided
$83,561 in child
support, a six-fold
increase in monthly
contributions compared to pre-participation levels.
The
Youth Justice Board is an after-school program
that brings together
young people to study and propose solutions
to public safety challenges. In 2014, the board explored
strategies for engaging
young people who are neither working nor in school. One of its
recommendations was to create a website that disconnected youth could
access on their phones to find links to service providers in their
neighborhoods. The result is NextMoveNYC.org…The
site, optimized for use on a smart phone, offers users links to education, social services, and job training.
The Center has played
a key role
in supporting the New York State
Unified Court System’s Human Trafficking Intervention Initiative, the nation’s first
statewide system of dedicated courts
designed to intervene in the lives
of trafficking victims… Almost 900 defendants passed through the Human Trafficking
Intervention Courts in 2014, with compliance rates approaching 90 percent.
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