Assessing and Improving New York City’s Detention Policy

CYJ provided research and technical assistance for the reform process, which has two primary elements:

• Designing a Risk Assessment Instrument (RAI): CYJ helped the stakeholder group design a reliable way to help judges decide whether arrested youth should be released, referred to community-based programs under supervision, or detained before trial. To develop this risk assessment tool, CYJ collected and analyzed data on 1,735 court-involved youth to identify risk factors that most strongly correlate with a youth’s risk of flight or re-arrest prior to court disposition—or sentencing. For more information about the RAI, please see our report, Juvenile Detention Reform in New York City: Measuring Risk through Research.
• Developing a Continuum of Alternatives to Detention (ATDs): CYJ helped the group develop community-based programming for youth who score medium risk on the RAI. Modeled after programs in Cook County (Chicago), Illinois, the new community-based ATDs provide three levels of supervision. The first (and least restrictive) level is community monitoring, in which program staff check in with youth regularly. The second level is an after-school supervision program, in which youth participate in tutoring, community service, and recreation. The first two levels of the continuum are offered by private, nonprofit providers. At the third level, the Department of Probation provides intensive community monitoring.

To help local officials evaluate the effectiveness of the RAI and the ATD programs, CYJ worked with the Criminal Justice Coordinator’s office, under state funding, to develop a Juvenile Justice Research Database that tracks outcomes for participating youths.

Why We Need Detention Reform

According to New York State statute, pretrial juvenile detention should be reserved for youth arrested under the age of 16 who pose a risk of re-offending or failing to appear in court prior to their next hearing. Until 2006, however, New York City lacked an objective tool that would help judges gauge a youth’s risk level. Additionally, the city lacked effective alternatives to detention for those youth who do not pose a high risk of flight or re-arrest before trial. With funding from the New York State Office of Children and Family Services and various private foundations, CYJ worked closely with the city’s Criminal Justice Coordinator’s Office to make the detention decision-making process more rational and to improve services for arrested youth and their families. These efforts have, in part, enabled the city to downsize its detention capacity and in 2011, the city closed the doors to its largest detention facility—Spofford/Bridges.

For more information, contact center coordinator Anil Fermin.