Tracking Stimulus Money in New York

The current economic crisis continues to impact communities across New York State. The State's Division of the Budget has indicated that New York faces a current year deficit of 2.1 billion dollars. This got us thinking. What is happening with stimulus money in New York State?

The Governor created the Recovery and Reinvestment Cabinet in February and a web site to provide information about New York's recovery programs. The web site has a page where New Yorker's can share their ideas for recovery projects.

For an overview on stimulus spending across the country visit the New York Times Economic Stimulus page.

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Reducing Neighborhood Poverty Increases Later Economic Mobility (Duh!)

A recent study by the Pew Charitable Trusts Economic Mobility Project found that residing in a high poverty neighborhood raises the chance for "downward mobility" by 52% for middle class African-Americans. Middle class African-Americans are more likely than than Whites to live in neighborhoods with a poverty rate over 20%. Pew reports that between 1985 and 2000 almost 66% of middle class African-Americans lived in high poverty neighborhoods, compared to 6% of whites.

Since Pew first began reporting data on the impact on economic mobility for persons residing in high-poverty neighborhoods there has been a debate about what policy approaches make sense. For example, nudging middle class African-American families to leave high-poverty neighborhoods for the sake of their children would increase risks for the poor children who remain.

According to an article in the Washington Post, the report findings suggest that place-based efforts to reduce poverty and improve outcomes for children may be the way to go. One local example of this is the Harlem Children's Zone. President Obama's Promise Neighborhoods policy initiative, mentioned in the Post article, seeks to replicate the Harlem Children's Zone model in 20 poor communities across the country. The good news is that reducing poverty improves upward economic mobility for African-American and Latino children in poor neighborhoods.

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No Federal COPS Funding For New York City

U.S Attorney General Eric Holder and Vice President Biden announced 1 Billion Dollars in funding distributed under the Justice Department's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (C.O.P.S). In total, 1046 jurisdictions recived funding out of over 7,000 that applied. Funding will be used to increase or maintain police manpower.

Unfortunately, New York City was not selected. In fact New York ranked lower behind such crime hotbeds as Sparks, Nevada and Pine Bluff, Arkansas. News accounts indicated that New York City's "low crime rate and stable budget" were major factors in the decision.

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"Making Prisoner Reentry Work"

An opinion piece by Richard Greenwald, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, in City Journal highlights the importance of mayors getting involved in prisoner reentry. To read the full article click here.

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New York's Drug Law Reforms Moving Forward

The Schenectady Daily Gazette posted an article on its blog about New York State's efforts to support drug treatment for reentrants released under the state's "landmark" drug law reforms signed into to law this April by Governor Patterson. Currently, of the state's approximately 59,000 inmates, 12,000 were arrested for a drug law offense, according to the article. New York, which helped to lead the nation towards greater incarceration for substance addicted offenders, is now on the forefront of the push for treatment and effective prisoner reentry. To read the article by Sara Foss click here.

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When Parents Go To Prison

In case you missed it, the New York Times ran an interesting article this Sunday entitled: In Prisoners' Wake, a Tide of Troubled Kids. The article, citing research by Christopher Wildman at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, identifies parental incarceration as a growing risk factor for American youth, particularly for African-American children. There are over 1.5 million children with an incarcerated parent, according to federal data reviewed by the Times. These children face increased risk factors including homelessness and mental illness.

The collateral consequences for children of incarcerated parents, the custodial parent and community raise important questions we think. Given the data identifying the increased risk factors for children of incarcerated parents, what interventions can work to reduce the risks associated with having a parent in prison? Should the risk to offenders' children be considered in sentencing, and how can it be measured against the risk of having a parent who is engaged in criminal conduct? What are the elements of effective reentry for incarcerated parents?

We know many of you are already working on this issue. We invite your comments on the article and the questions raised.

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RR and the Aspen Ideas Festival

This week, Aspen, CO has come alive with the biggest ideas of the moment at the Aspen Ideas Festival, including a whole track on "Justice and Society." Yesterday, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Professor Charles J. Ogletree, Bishop T.D. Jakes, and NPR Host Linda Wertheimer discussed the question "Has our criminal justice system failed?" See the video of this lively conversation here.

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