A Shameless Plug for Ourselves

Our blog has an exciting new feature -- what is it?

You can now support the Upper Manhattan Reentry Task Force by donating to the Harlem Community Justice Center with just one click!

Scroll down below and, on the right, you'll see a button that says "Donate." Click there and you can make a secure donation via PayPal. Your donation will go toward our efforts to reduce recidivism and enhance public safety in Upper Manhattan.

Thanks for your support!

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The Rock Crumbles

Christopher Watler is the Project Director at the Harlem Community Justice Center.

It was a sunny and warm spring morning last Friday on the roof deck of Elmcor Youth and Adult Activities, Inc., a local community organization started by parents in 1965. There was a celebratory mood as elected officials, activist, commissioners and the press, joined by children and youth came out to witness Governor Paterson sign into law historic changes to the state’s drug laws. The new law would repeal core features of the 1970’s era Rockefeller Drug Laws, restoring judicial discretion in drug cases and expanding alternatives to incarceration and drug treatment resources.

While not the full repeal most activists and some elected officials demanded, these changes are nonetheless an important milestone for a state that helped to encourage a national addiction to incarceration for non-violent substance abusing offenders. In 1973, then-Governor Nelson Rockefeller signed into law the toughest set of drug laws in the country. The state at the time had less than 13,000 state prison inmates, a number that would peak to over 71,000 inmates in 2000 and now stands at fewer than 63,000. Most disturbing was the disparate impact these laws have had on persons of color and the poor. The growth in incarceration of non-violent drug offenders did little to improve safety and has consumed limited resources that could be put to better use providing treatment or other essential services.

Flanked by a crew of state, local and federal legislators, activist and commissioners, Governor Paterson summed up the moment as a “step in a movement to fix our broken criminal justice system.” Despite the state’s deepening budget woes and an unprecedented fiscal crisis, State Senator Eric Schneiderman vowed that “we will rely on treatment that works, not incarceration that fails” to address the needs of substance addicted non-violent offenders. One of the key heros of the moment was Jeffrion Aubrey, who represents the 35th Assembly District in Queens. “We never gave up on the ability of human beings to change, Rockefeller defied that reality, and now we have defied Rockefeller,” said Aubrey. Robert Gangi, Executive Director of the Correctional Association of New York thanked the many community activists and formerly incarcerated persons who over the years engaged in what he described as a “people’s movement” to “Drop the Rock.”

The sense of hope and possibility was tempered by the reality of what lay ahead. According to Hip Hop mogul and activist Russell Simmons, today we are making a “small change, but sowing a good seed…much remains to be done.” Simmons is correct. Treatment and alternatives to incarceration will require resources and a sustained commitment to invest in and work with local communities to reclaim lives while preventing others from becoming lost to addiction and crime. There is an opportunity now to strengthen prisoner reentry and proven alternatives to incarceration like drug treatment courts.

Efforts to improve discharge planning for retuning inmates and to work with local community service providers to provide ready access to treatment are underway in New York State. One example of this is the County Reentry Task Force effort spearheaded by the Division of Criminal Justice Services. Across the state, thirteen Reentry Task Force programs involving local law enforcement, corrections, parole and community service providers are coordinating discharge planning, community supervision, and service delivery for high-risk reentrants. The Upper Manhattan Reentry Task Force is the most recent addition to this statewide effort.

Seeing the faces of the children in Elmcor’s programs, I wondered what type of criminal justice system my generation was leaving as a legacy. I hope that, as adults, these children will look back and draw inspiration from this day as a moment when we summoned the courage to do what was right.

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Frontline: Reentry for Individuals with Mental Health Issues

Tomorrow, Frontline (PBS) will air a piece about the particular challenges that reentrants with serious mental health issues face upon release from incarceration.

Sadly, incarceration can serve as a stabilizing influence for these individuals, as facilities have mental health and nursing professional who can provide treatment, both chemical and therapeutic. When reentrants with mental health problems leave incarceration, they are often left to their own devices and those without family or community support can find themselves in dangerous and illegal situations fairly quickly.

The trailers for this show seem to indicate that Frontline will explore these challenges and, hopefully, highlight some of the solutions. In New York, the piece should air on Channel 13 (PBS) tomorrow at 9:00 pm.

For more information about innovative approaches to mental health and criminal justice system, check out the Brooklyn Treatment Court.

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Unpacking Rockefeller Reform

Today's Gotham Gazette has a brief but good article on the path of things to come with Rockefeller Drug Reform. See it here.

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New! Employment Law Clinic

The Manhattan Borough President's Office is sponsoring an Employment Law Clinic uptown from April 17th through June 26th.

They cannot help you find a job, but they can provide FREE legal advice about job-related problems such as:

• You lost your job or your hours were reduced
• Your employer refuses to pay your wages or overtime
• You are having problems obtaining unemployment insurance
• You cannot find or keep work because of a criminal record
• You were fired because you or a family member got sick
• You are not getting the pension or other benefits your employer promised
• You were discriminated against at work
• You have other job-related problems

All legal services are free.

The Employment Law Clinic is held:
Fridays from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.*

Manhattan Borough President’s Northern Manhattan Office
163 West 125th Street, 5th Floor

To schedule an appointment, please call: 212-531-1609

Services are available in English, Spanish & French.
Please make an appointment if you need a Spanish or French interpreter.
*This is a pilot project that will be offered at this location from April 17 through June 26, 2009.

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There is Art in Justice

Artist Maira Kalman creates incredible op-art pieces for the New York Times. Here is her latest creation, which details her visit to the Supreme Court and conversation with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

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National Probation Service Multi-Media

The National Probation Service for England and Wales produced this online judge-for-yourself interactive tool. It gives you a chance to meet some "typical" offenders and make your own judgments about their cases.

Thanks to our colleague Ben Smith, who manages the Changing the Court blog at Bronx Community Solutions, for tipping us off!

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Upper Manhattan Reentry Task Force Presents to Service Providers

Yesterday, we had a chance to present our work and plans for the future to the Service Provider Advisory Council of the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services.

This council of advisors was formed last October to provide broad input and evaluation from reentry service provider community throughout the state on both current and future reentry initiatives and projects. There are 28 members from around the state (including some of our own Task Force partners, The Fortune Society, the Center for Employment Opportunities, and the Doe Fund), representing a variety of different service needs and perspectives. Yesterday, DCJS introduced this group to the County Reentry Task Forces (of which Upper Manhattan is one).

Particularly notable is the fact that the commissioners and executive staff of DCJS, the Division of Parole, the Division of Probation and Correctional Alternatives, the Department of Correctional Services, and the Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services were present for the entire day-long conference, listening to the presentations of the various Task Forces and to the concerns and questions of the service provider representatives. In New York State, there is a level of coordination among these key reentry agencies that is unprecedented and very encouraging -- what it means, on a practical level, is that key decision makers have their ear to the ground in terms of the systemic challenges. If a multi-service provider in Albany is having the same problem getting medicaid started for a reentrant as a provider in the Bronx, then trends emerge and agency staff can be tasked to work out a solution. The improvement of reentry processes happens just as much at the direct service level as it does at the institutional level.

DCJS has also produced a great video offering an overview of reentry for those looking for a starting point to this issue. It features Glenn Martin of the Fortune Society and Vivian Nixon of the College and Community Fellowship.

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Parole on the Radio

Brian Lehrer (of WNYC radio) sat down with New York State Parole's Angela Jimenez (Director of Downstate Operations) and Yvonne Oliver (Parole Officer here at the Harlem Parole Reentry Court) for an interview just now. There were some good questions and the interview focused -- not surprisingly -- mostly on employment. Securing a job with a criminal record can be a challenge, especially in these economic times. Both Ms. Jimenez and Ms. Oliver had some interesting things to say in response.

You can listen to the interview here.

Stay tuned to the blog for some more in-depth information about the issue of what a reentrant should or should not divulge to an employer regarding their criminal conviction or arrest.

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Turn on Your Radios!

Tomorrow from 10:40 - 11:00am, "Ms. O," a parole officer at our own Harlem Parole Reentry Court, will be interviewed by Brian Lehrer on WNYC. She will be joined by Parole's Director of Downstate Operations to discuss reentry and parole efforts in New York State.

For those outside of New York City, you can hear the broadcast streaming live at http://www.wnyc.org/.

We hope you'll tune in!

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Wrongful Convictions

Today's Gotham Gazette has a great article by Khadijah Rentas about people who are wrongly convicted for crimes they did not commit. There's a nice mix of the personal and the policy.

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‘Hey, we eat doughnuts too!’

Today's NY Times has an article discussing a law enforcement community education program for seniors in Newark.  [We seem to be a bit obsessed with Newark recently -- forgive us.  There are so many interesting things happening there.]

Apparently, many police departments nationally have set up citizen police academies targeted to seniors, with the intention to better inform a segment of the population that is often deeply rooted in a community.  As Captain Susan Cole, the program's coordinator, says, “Seniors are home during the day, they see a lot, they’re staples in their community ... They know a lot of people. They are the eyes and ears who can assist the Police Department.”

In addition to more traditional activities like ride-alongs with officers on patrol, the seniors also undergo firearms training.  Indeed, the story opens with a description of an elderly woman shooting down an attacker in a simulated computer scenario -- while her targets weren't live, her gun was real. [When the woman pulls the trigger on the gun, the simulator registers whether the shot was a successful hit.]

Urban law enforcement entities are perennially interested in finding ways of connecting with the communities that they police outside of pure enforcement situations.  Is this a good way of doing so?  What kind of results could you imagine in your own communities with this kind of a program?

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Reentry in Newark

The New Jersey Star Ledger’s blog has an interesting editorial today on reentry in Newark, entitled "Prisoner Re-entry in Newark: It Takes a Community." According to the editorial, Newark has “the highest per capita number of parolees of any U.S City.” The post also highlights that just two percent of New Jersey’s corrections budget is dedicated to education and vocational programs. A report by the New Jersey State Employment and Training Commission highlights the educational and workforce challenges facing inmates in New Jersey prisons and recommendations for addressing these challenges.

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Cramon Milline Meets the Governor

Recently, we introduced you to Cramon Milline, the Reentry Associate here at the Harlem Parole Reentry Court. The second participant in the Reentry Court when it began in 2001, Cramon has turned his life around: having successfully completed parole, Cramon is now pursuing his GED and working as a kind of ombudsperson for men and women who have recently returned from prison.

Not too long ago, Cramon Milline delivered a handful of signatures urging the repeal of the Rockefeller Drug Laws to New York State Governor David Patterson himself.

Check out the video of him doing so below.

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Changes in Racial Dynamics of Drug Crimes

Yesterday, the Sentencing Project released a report showing that, for the first time in 25 years, the number of African Americans incarcerated in state prison for drug offenses has declined substantially (by almost 22%). This trend has occurred in parallel with a rise in the number of whites incarcerated for drug offenses (by almost 43%).

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Prisons and Foster Care

See this excellent article about the connections between prison stays and foster care in today's Gotham Gazette.

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Local, Local News: EveryBlock

We just learned about a news service that collects the most local of news and public record and publicizes it daily.  It's called EveryBlock and it has the potential to be a good source for both local news and government accountability information.  

You can put in your address and find out what crimes have just happened around you, what news there is concerning the school down the street, what potholes or graffiti have been repaired, or other information of a very local scope.

This is interesting to us on the Task Force as we think about our idea for a "community reentry scorecard" that would collect and publicize reentry data for public consumption.   Check it out!

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Morgenthau on Charlie Rose

Last night, Robert Morgenthau, Manhattan's District Attorney, made an appearance on the Charlie Rose show. After 35 years as DA, Morgenthau is retiring and Rose took the opportunity to reflect on the 90-year-old's rich career.

In response to a question about the current crime problems in this borough, Morgenthau launched into a conversation about his recent prosecutions of entities that sold materials for weapons of mass destruction to Iran through fake companies based in New York (including a case where the English bank Lloyds TSB published a booklet for employees about how to strip identification off of Iranian money headed to the US for purchase of such materials). Another blossoming area of crime that Morgenthau cited was the practice of establishing tax shelters in foreign countries, particularly the Cayman Islands.

What was interesting about this conversation was the extent to which violent and property crime were only secondary crime problems for the District Attorney (to be fair, Morgenthau said multiple times that every crime is important to the victim, and that he had no particular feelings about the best or worst crime in his tenure). This goes without saying, perhaps, but it is hard to imagine any other county in New York (and perhaps in the United States), that has such a wide variety of crime problems with which to contend. While New York sees financial crime at a high frequency (just look at the list of recent prosecutions worthy of a press release from Morgenthau's office), it also contains neighborhoods that receive high numbers of people who have done time for drug crimes, theft, and violence -- most of which crimes they didn't commit in the Cayman Islands. While the jury is still out on who our next District Attorney will be, he or she should look forward to a kind of global crime portfolio. Hopefully, the new DA won't forget those Manhattan neighborhoods that are still contending with drug addition, property crime, and domestic violence.

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Erasing Memories and Forgetting Bad Habits

Some tantalizing new research (admittedly, in its early stages) suggests that scientists may be able to tinker with human memories in ways that we've never been able to before.

From this New York Times article:

"Researchers in Brooklyn have recently accomplished comparable feats, with a single dose of an experimental drug delivered to areas of the brain critical for holding specific types of memory, like emotional associations, spatial knowledge or motor skills.

The drug blocks the activity of a substance that the brain apparently needs to retain much of its learned information. And if enhanced, the substance could help ward off dementias and other memory problems."

Understanding that the resesarch is still preliminary, the most immediate implication of this from a criminal justice perspective is the idea that bad habits often contribute to recidivism and criminal activity more generally.



“'This possibility of memory editing has enormous possibilities and raises huge ethical issues,' said Dr. Steven E. Hyman, a neurobiologist at Harvard. 'On the one hand, you can imagine a scenario in which a person enters a setting which elicits traumatic memories, but now has a drug that weakens those memories as they come up. Or, in the case of addiction, a drug that weakens the associations that stir craving.'”



Could this drug help to alter the memories that promote criminal behavior? Could this research alter the landscape of drug addiction and crime -- and, by implication, interrupt the cycles of addiction and incarceration that are so prevalent among offenders?

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Know Your Rights. And Refer to Them On Your Phone.

Phones these days have a lot of capabilities, sometimes called "applications." On Apple's iPhone, for example, there are applications for Facebook, for finding recipes on the spot, for listening to public radio, and for tons of other (perhaps useless) tasks.



How does this relate to reentry?



Well, various people or organizations have created "Know Your Rights" applications that pull up legal information relating to law enforcement situations. Were you stopped by the police? Click on this application and you'll get detailed advice about what rights you have -- including information about how to cooperate with the police, specific legal cases that established these rights, and the answers to some frequently-asked questions.



Not everybody has an iPhone, but the technology begs some interesting questions:

• Could we create an application that offers real-time, up-to-date resource information for reentrants? In New York City, you can call 311 (a city-operated, free information line) and access the "Reentry Pod." This pod of information allows an operator to find reentry-related services as close as possible to the address you give. Would it be possible to put all of this information in an application and enable search options so that consumers enter their home address and look for service providers?


• Could we produce an application that provides real-time crime and reentry data? One of our recommendations on the Task Force is a "Community Reentry Scorecard" that would track the number of people coming home to Upper Manhattan neighborhoods, and the number being sent back to prison for new crimes or technical violations of parole. We also want to capture other reentry trends -- and, most importantly, make them available for public review.

Some open questions include whether these would actually be useful tools -- and whether enough people uptown have the technological capability to access them. In the vein of "using technology for public good," please pass along any successes you've had with the many tech tools at our disposal.

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Good News for Public Defense in NYC

A New York Times article reports today that the state budge contains a provision for capping the number of cases handled by public defenders in New York City. While the cap will go into effect in 2010 and then take an estimated four years to roll out, it bodes well for defendants in the five boroughs.

One poignant comment from the article:

'But Laura Pitter, who worked for Legal Aid in the Bronx from 2003 to 2008, said caseload caps were “great and very necessary.”

When she started at Legal Aid, she said, she handled 70 to 80 cases at a time. Eventually, that number climbed to between 110 and 115 cases, meaning that she sometimes had to make 5 to 10 court appearances a day, she said. Cases were delayed for months or years, she said, while her clients sat in jail or rearranged their lives around court appearances.

She said she left Legal Aid for private practice because she was overburdened and because she needed to make more money to pay off student loans.

“It was becoming impossible to do that job,” she said. “Clients suffered enormously.” '

John Feinblatt, former director of the Center for Court Innovation and current Criminal Justice Coordinator for the NYC Mayor's Office also makes the good point that caseloads have to be considered alongside enhancements to technology for capturing accurate data about defendants.

For more background on the state of public defense in the US, see this excellent article published by the Times last November.

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Meet Robert Walsh, U.S. Probation Officer

Robert Walsh is a United States Probation Officer and the Community Resource Specialist for the Southern District of New York. A member of the Upper Manhattan Reentry Task Force, Robert very kindly sat down with us to answer some questions about being a probation officer.

Please describe your role with U.S. Probation. What do you do and how long have you been with the agency?

I have been with US Probation since 1991 and have been an officer since 1996. I started off as a House Arrest officer. In our office, we have different specializations for the different court-ordered special conditions: this includes substance abuse, house arrest, community services, etc. House arrest is typically ordered for those probationers who committed a white collar crime, although it’s really decided by the judge on a case-by-case basis. House arrest could be ordered in lieu of incarceration, so that a defendant or offender has the opportunity to refortify their domestic situation. As with any offender on probation, a probation officer is charged with re-stabilizing the family and helping with education or employment placement when necessary. Ideally, these things will contribute to the goal of reducing recidivism.

After 16 years of house arrest work, I attended a training for offender workforce development specialist. This office formed a committee of employment specialists to assist offenders in need of educational or vocational training. In August of 2008, I was promoted to Community Resource Specialist, which means that I oversee that committee of people. In addition to managing my own caseload of probationers, I also deal with community-based organizations like STRIVE, the Center for Employment Opportunities, the Fortune Society, the Osborne Association, FEGS, and Workforce 1 to keep our partnerships active. Before we refer people to those agencies, we try to asses their needs both professionally and educationally, so that we can address and break down any barriers to reentry.

What is the most challenging thing about being a probation officer?

To be effective, you need to be professional and fair in your approach to each offender. Compassion is key -- you have to look at it like helping a fellow human being. For example, you have to look at violent cases and say, “Well, each one is an individual.” Lately, my most challenging client has been the client who has been in the system a few times. He’s likely middle-aged, without as many employment or educational opportunities. He has his own predeterminations about the system and its ability to help him. Sometimes I get them young, real raw – but you can work with them. The older ones form their hardcore opinions of the system and you have to convince them that you can help. They’re all told early on that they have to comply with their court-ordered conditions and those conditions are explained to them. When they aren’t compliant, you have to walk a fine line between law enforcement and social work: you have to assist them, but you also have to emphasize the importance of compliance. It’s like helping out a relative – you can keep giving them money when they ask, but they’ll never learn that way.

What is the most rewarding thing about being a probation officer?

My biggest asset as an officer is being fair. The probationers who look at it like they need help, they’re the most successful. I tell every client, “This is one chapter in your life. When the time comes that I’m not here, you want to wake up in the morning and feel good about your situation.” Building up their self-esteem is also a challenge. Many of them don’t know how to get up in the morning, how to dress, how to be on time, what proper hygiene is. But it’s not their fault – they never had support or structure to learn this stuff like we did. Sometimes, my heart really goes out to them. When you’re sitting down with somebody to put together a resume, you make them aware of what it is that they’ve accomplished in life. Yeah, maybe that job or training program you did was while you were incarcerated, but it still counts as work experience. It changes their whole view of themselves, gives them a sense of pride to see it on paper. They’re seeing for themselves that they can be better.

Sometimes I go to the graduations at substance abuse treatment programs. When you see somebody speak at their commencement ceremony, you feel a sense of pride. I’ve had times when people have thanked me in their speeches for getting them together. You see their families there – people who were hurt by their behavior – and you see them realize a sense of personal significance as a individual. When you see the family unit come together as a group at that moment, that’s when you know they’re going to be OK.

What motivates you to do your job everyday? How do you remain enthusiastic about your work?

The chance to help people on a daily basis and seeing firsthand the rewards of it at the end of the reentry process. It’s knowing that you made a difference in someone’s life. There are officers who get more out of the law enforcement side – I feel that when compassion reaps rewards, that’s gratifying. I also enjoy coming into contact with all the different people – I don’t think you could have a job with more diverse personalities. Sometimes I just have to laugh. I also enjoy the learning opportunities to meet officers from across the country, especially at conferences. I like to hear about what works in California or the Midwest, as opposed to New York. I find it fascinating that there are hundreds of people out there on a national level dedicated to this process. Over the years, the job has definitely changed for the better, especially with the information age. Computers and the internet have really improved our ability to research educational or employment resources in the community for probationers.

If you had all the resources you needed at your disposal, what kind of outcomes do you think you could achieve?

This is bold, but my primary goal would be 100% education and employment rate for the whole population we handle. I come from a background where both were emphasized: my mom was always like, “Education! Education!” and my dad was always saying, “What job do you have?” So I guess that’s where that comes from. My role with house arrest really involved the enforcement aspect – but what I do now probably fits my personality more, since I really want to see people achieve their educational and employment goals.

Is there anything else you want people to know about probation officers or probation in general?

Probation officers are truly the most dedicated, patient, and understanding group of people you could work with. We have a wide range of personalities, but we want to accomplish the same thing. I had this guy who fought with me every step of the way. He never wanted to comply with anything I told him to do. Last week, he finished his probation and came to my office with tears in his eyes. I asked why he was crying and he said that he wanted to thank me for caring enough to help him. It’s like having a child – the kid that’s the biggest hardhead in school becomes something because somebody came along and said, “You can do something in life.” That’s how I look at my job.

For a map of US probationers in Upper Manhattan, check out a recent blog post here.

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Web 2.0: Fundraising on the Internet

There are a number of different web-based tools for raising money -- many of them specifically designed for organizations or groups with a particular cause. Here are a few that we know about.

IdeaBlob

People come up with great ideas every day all across the country. At IdeaBlob, eligible individuals can submit their ideas, and based on votes from the ideablob.com online community – which includes other innovators as well as friends, family, colleagues, associates, teachers and mentors –one idea every month will win $10,000. Examples of recent ideas: "Holistic Neighborhood Tea Cafe, " Youth Civics 2.0: Social Media for Civic Innovation," and "Community Health Radio Program." Basically, if you can mobilize a whole network of people to vote for your idea, the idea with the most votes wins the money.

GlobalGiving

GlobalGiving is an online marketplace that connects donors to the causes and countries they care about. Donors select the projects they want to support, make a tax-deductible contribution, and get regular progress updates - so they can see their impact. Individuals and organizations needing the support can list their projects on the site. These locally-run projects have immediate access to funds they might not otherwise have had. Donors can search by country or by topic area -- and organizations can direct their donors to their project listing.

Hope Equity

Hope Equity is a program of Heifer Foundation that enables individuals, groups or organizations to invest in long-term sustainable giving. These individuals can create "micro-endowments" and then encourage their families, friends, and colleagues to donate. The principal (i.e., your donation) on the endowments is never touched. It is invested and each year a percentage, which is currently set at 5.5%, is made available to the organizations supported through Hope Equity. However, some years the country program or non-profit organization may choose not to pull from their endowments, allowing them to grow until a time when the funds are most needed. Any registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a mission that falls under the broad category of ending hunger and poverty while caring for the Earth can apply for a grant through Hope Equity.

Facebook Causes

If you have a profile on Facebook, you can start or join a "Cause" and broadcast your mission to your networks on Facebook. People can show support for your cause, join the group, and give money online.

At last year's Net Impact conference, some of the founders of these tools sat down for a discussion on how Web 2.0 can be utilized to advance social causes (profitable or otherwise). One theme of that conversation was that any electronic tool is helpful only to the extent that the human-to-human relationship is already in place. In other words, a web tool will not serve well as a replacement for human contact, but it's helpful once that contact has already been made.

We'd be curious to hear if anybody has used these tools before and whether you've successfully raised funds. It seems like any number of social service projects with reentrants or their families would be good idea candidates there. If you have been successful with online fundraising, what has contributed to your success?

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US Probationers in Upper Manhattan

Thanks to our friends at United States Probation, Southern District, we got some interesting information about the number of probationers in Upper Manhattan zipcodes. Check out the map to the left for the stats (as of March 31, 2009).

US Probation, in addition to investigating defendents charged with federal crimes, also supervises individuals sentenced to probation and supervises reentrants coming home from a federal prison term.

A coming blog post will interview a US Probation Officer responsible for some of these cases and for community resource development at the agency.

Stay tuned!

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