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Publications [ main Publications page | Order Printed Copies ]   Download a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader.     Enhancing Safety and Justice for Victims of Domestic Violence: Voices of Women in the Queens Integrated Domestic Violence Court Francesca Levy, Tim Ross, and Pamela Guthrie Download now  PDF: 188 KB/54 pages published: March 2008   When a family’s central issue is domestic violence, a new court initiative in New York State, the Integrated Domestic Violence (IDV) court, now brings together criminal, family, and matrimonial cases so that they are heard on the same day by one judge who has comprehensive information about a family’s needs and history. To learn how victims of domestic violence experience these courts, Vera interviewed women who had cases at different stages in the Queens IDV Court. Many of the women said that they found the court proceedings to be more efficient from not having to repeat information to different judges, but some felt they didn't have a sufficient chance to convey their experiences to the judge.     Clinical Trials Project: Progress Report 10 Vera Institute of Justice Download now  PDF: 69 KB/11 pages published: March 2008   This report is the tenth in a series of quarterly progress reports describing the Vera Institute of Justice's review of issues related to the enrollment of foster children in clinical trials of HIV and AIDS treatments during the late 1980s and 1990s. It covers the quarter running from October 1, 2007, to December 31, 2007. The current report describes: Progress in implementing the research design and reviewing case files, Additions to the list of files that the Administration for Children’s Services has asked Vera to review, Progress in interviewing clinical trial participants and caregivers, Progress in interviewing key respondents, Preparing the final report, and Next steps.     The Family Assessment Program: Trajectories and Effects Roohi Choudhry Download now  PDF: 133 KB/29 pages published: January 2008   Following up on a 2005 Vera report about FAP, Vera conducted an exploratory study for the Administration for Children's Services, interviewing 100 families who had approached FAP offices in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens between March and September in 2006. Researchers interviewed 75 of those families again after three months. Our investigation suggests that FAP is helping families served. Many of the young people interviewed received prompt referrals to services and showed signs of improved mental health and better family relations three months after approaching FAP.     Clinical Trials Project: Progress Report 9 Vera Institute of Justice Download now  PDF: 53 KB/7 pages published: December 2007   This report is the ninth in a series of quarterly progress reports describing the Vera Institute of Justice's review of issues related to the enrollment of foster children in clinical trials of HIV and AIDS treatments during the late 1980s and 1990s. It covers the quarter running from July 1, 2007, to September 30, 2007. The current report describes: Progress in implementing the research design and reviewing case files Additions to the list of files that the Administration for Children’s Services has asked Vera to review, Progress in interviewing clinical trial participants and caregivers, Progress in interviewing key respondents, Preparing the final report, and Next steps.     Vera Institute of Justice: A Brochure About Vera Download now  PDF: 856 KB/6 pages published: September 2007   The Vera Institute of Justice combines expertise in research, demonstration projects, and technical assistance to help leaders in government and civil society improve the systems people rely on for justice and safety.     Clinical Trials Project: Progress Report 8 Vera Institute of Justice Download now  PDF: 59 KB/7 pages published: August 2007   This report is the eighth in a series of quarterly progress reports describing the Vera Institute of Justice's review of issues related to the enrollment of foster children in clinical trials of HIV and AIDS treatments during the late 1980s and 1990s. It covers the quarter running from April 1, 2007, to June 30, 2007. The current report describes: Progress in reviewing case file documents, Additions to the list of files that the Administration for Children’s Services has asked Vera to review, Progress in interviewing clinical trial participants and caregivers, Issues relating to the review of medical information and obtaining hospital records, Progress in obtaining and reviewing documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, and Next steps.     "I Would Not Have Anywhere to Go": Understanding Section 8 Housing Subsidy Loss in New York City Roohi Choudhry and Jim Parsons Download now  PDF: 1873 KB/112 pages published: June 2007   Since it was established in 1974, the Section 8 Housing Choice Program, which provides housing subsidies to low-income individuals and families as a supplement to private rent payments, has become the dominant form of federal housing assistance. In New York City the Section 8 program provides support to more than 110,000 people, approximately one-fifth of whom are served by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). Every year, thousands of New Yorkers lose their Section 8 subsidy, placing families and individuals at risk of homelessness. In 2004 and 2005 the Vera Institute of Justice surveyed 492 HPD Section 8 voucher holders in the Bronx and Brooklyn. This report summarizes findings from this research, describes some of the factors that place Section 8 voucher holders at risk of losing their subsidy, and suggests measures that public housing authorities such as HPD might take to reduce the risk of voucher loss.     Clinical Trials Project: Progress Report 7 Vera Institute of Justice Download now  PDF: 63 KB/8 pages published: May 2007   This report is the seventh in a series of quarterly progress reports describing the Vera Institute of Justice's review of issues related to the enrollment of foster children in clinical trials of HIV and AIDS treatments during the late 1980s and 1990s. It covers the quarter running from January 1, 2007, to March 31, 2007. The current report describes: Progress in reviewing case file documents, Additions to the list of files that the Administration for Children’s Services has asked Vera to review, Progress in interviewing key respondents, caregivers, and clinical trial participants, Progress in reviewing clinical trial protocols and related documents, Outreach, Data entry and analysis, and Next steps.     Reconsidering Incarceration: New Directions for Reducing Crime Don Stemen Download now  PDF: 623 KB/24 pages published: January 2007   Little empirical study had been done to confirm or refute the effectiveness of incarceration in reducing crime rates when America began its historic reliance on prisons in the 1970s. Today, conversely, policymakers are faced with a large, complex, and sometimes contradictory body of research. This paper seeks to help officials make sense of this information and offers an up-to-date understanding of what works best. It also examines research on several of the other factors that might be developed as part of an expanded notion of public safety. Informed by this more inclusive understanding of current research, it suggests that effective public safety strategies should move away from an exclusive focus on incarceration to embrace other factors associated with low crime rates in a more comprehensive policy framework for safeguarding citizens.   Read the Executive Summary     Clinical Trials Project: Progress Report 6 Vera Institute of Justice Download now  PDF: 171 KB/8 pages published: January 2007   This report is the sixth in a series of quarterly progress reports describing the Vera Institute of Justice's review of issues related to the enrollment of foster children in clinical trials of HIV and AIDS treatments during the late 1980s and 1990s. It covers the quarter running from October 1, 2006, to December 31, 2006. The current report describes: Progress in reviewing case file documents, Additions to the list of files that the Administration for Children’s Services has asked Vera to review, Progress in interviewing key respondents, caregivers, and clinical trial participants, Progress in reviewing policy documents, Progress in reviewing clinical trial protocols, Progress in reviewing Office for Human Research Protections documents, Outreach, and Next steps.     Clinical Trials Project: Progress Report 5 Vera Institute of Justice Download now  PDF: 83 KB/11 pages published: October 2006   This report is the fifth in a series of quarterly progress reports describing the Vera Institute of Justice's review of issues related to the enrollment of foster children in clinical trials of HIV and AIDS treatments during the late 1980s and 1990s. It covers the quarter running from July 1, 2006, to September 30, 2006. The current report describes: Progress in implementing the research design, Additions to the list of files that the Administration for Children's Services has asked Vera to review, Institutional Review Board review of child and caregiver interviews, Outreach, Next steps, and Updated analysis of Child Care Review Service administrative data that includes new cases.     Clinical Trials Project: Progress Report 4 Vera Institute of Justice Download now  PDF: 54KB/5 pages published: July 2006   This report is the fourth in a series of quarterly progress reports describing the Vera Institute of Justice's review of issues related to the enrollment of foster children in clinical trials of HIV and AIDS treatments during the late 1980s and 1990s. It covers the quarter running from April 1, 2006, to June 30, 2006. The current report describes: Implementation of the research design, Institutional Review Board review of key respondent interviews, Activities of Vera's Advisory Board, Outreach, and Next steps.     Law Enforcement and Arab American Community Relations After September 11, 2001: Engagement in a Time of Uncertainty Nicole J. Henderson, Christopher W. Ortiz, Naomi F. Sugie, and Joel Miller Download now  PDF: 323 KB/41 pages published: June 2006   Vera's two-year study of relations between Arab Americans and law enforcement in the United States following September 11, 2001 found, among other things, that Arab Americans fear the intrusion of federal policies and practices even more than individual acts of hate or violence, and that many local police are reluctant to enforce immigration law. The report identifies examples of partnerships and innovations that have successfully bridged gaps identified in the study. It cites recommendations and opportunities for restoring trust and creating alliances to reduce crime and address terrorism and other public safety concerns. The study was funded by the National Institute of Justice.   Read the Executive Summary     Law Enforcement and Arab American Community Relations After September 11, 2001: Technical Report Nicole J. Henderson, Christopher W. Ortiz, Naomi F. Sugie, and Joel Miller Download now  PDF: 893 KB/184 pages published: June 2006   This technical report accompanies the summary report of Vera's two-year study of relations between Arab Americans and law enforcement in the United States following September 11, 2001. The study found, among other things, that Arab Americans fear the intrusion of federal policies and practices even more than individual acts of hate or violence, and that many local police are reluctant to enforce immigration law. The report identifies examples of partnerships and innovations that have successfully bridged gaps identified in the study. It cites recommendations and opportunities for restoring trust and creating alliances to reduce crime and address terrorism and other public safety concerns. The study was funded by the National Institute of Justice.     Clinical Trials Project: Progress Report 3 Vera Institute of Justice Download now  PDF: 64 KB/8 pages published: May 2006   This report is the third in a series of quarterly progress reports describing the Vera Institute of Justice's review of issues related to the enrollment of foster children in clinical trials of HIV and AIDS treatments during the late 1980s and 1990s. It covers the quarter running from January 1, 2006, to March 31, 2006. The current report describes: Implementation of the document review; Policies to prevent disclosure of confidential information; Vera Advisory Board activity; Institutional Review Board (IRB) developments; Outreach activities; and Next steps. This report also contains an appendix describing our confidentiality protocol.     Clinical Trials Project: Progress Report 2 Vera Institute of Justice Download now  PDF: 174 KB/17 pages published: January 2006   This report is the second in a series of quarterly progress reports describing the Vera Institute of Justice's review of issues related to the enrollment of foster children in clinical trials of HIV and AIDS treatments during the late 1980s and 1990s. It covers the quarter running from October 1, 2005 to December 30, 2005. The current report describes: Lessons learned from the planning process; Development of a research protocol and IRB submission; Advisory Board and IRB member recruitment; Outreach activities; Testimony at City Council hearing; and Next steps. This report also contains two appendices: charts that describe some of the characteristics of the foster children believed to have enrolled in clinical trials and the testimony of Vera's director, Michael Jacobson, at a recent hearing before the New York City Council.     A Study of New York City's Family Assessment Program Claire Shubik and Ajay Khashu Download now  PDF: 177 KB/28 pages published: December 2005   When families are struggling to communicate, trying to control the behavior of an unruly child, or experiencing a crisis, they often look for outside help and support. For many families in New York, the place to turn is the status offender system. In December 2002, New York City's Department of Probation and the Administration of Children's Services (ACS)—the two agencies primarily responsible for administering and funding the city's status offender system—collaborated to launch the Family Assessment Program (FAP), an innovative approach to intake and assessment. FAP seeks to swiftly connect children and families to appropriate services in the community, reduce the city's reliance on family court in Persons in Need of Supervision (PINS) cases, and decrease the number of out-of-home placements for PINS youth. Commissioned by Probation and ACS, this report assesses the progress FAP has made in its first two-and-a-half years, finding that the city is already reaping significant benefits: connecting families to services more quickly and making fewer court referrals.   Read the Executive Summary     Clinical Trials Project: Progress Report 1 Download now  PDF: 98 KB/6 pages published: November 2005   This report is the first in a series of quarterly progress reports describing the Vera Institute of Justice's review of issues related to the enrollment of foster children in clinical trials of HIV and AIDS treatments during the late 1980s and 1990s. It covers the quarter running from July 1, 2005, to September 30, 2005. The current report describes: Efforts to gain access to necessary information, Outreach activities, Preliminary planning to establish our methodology, The recruitment of an independent advisory board, and Next steps.     Probation Reform: Is Zero Tolerance a Viable Option? Patrick Kelly and Don Stemen Download now  PDF: 141 KB/8 pages published: October 2005   Can community supervision compete with incarceration as a means of crime control? Mark Kleiman, professor of policy studies at the UCLA School of Public Affairs and the author of "When Brute Force Fails: Strategic Thinking for Crime Control," believes it can. At a July 2005 roundtable discussion sponsored by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), Kleiman told a group of researchers and prominent community supervision administrators, "If we get [community supervision] right, we could cut incarceration by 50 percent, have less crime rather than more crime, and spend the same amount of money." This paper, produced by the Vera Institute of Justice with support from NIJ, summarizes the discussion between Kleiman, who has proposed a new model of community corrections based on his theoretical work, and his audience of researchers and community corrections administrators, who represent a wealth of practical experience.     Can Federal Intervention Bring Lasting Improvement in Local Policing?: The Pittsburgh Consent Decree Robert C. Davis, Nicole J. Henderson, and Christopher W. Ortiz Download now  PDF: 769 KB/62 pages published: April 2005   This study sheds light on ways in which federal oversight of local police forces suspected of patterns of abuse can have continuing benefits. Vera researchers found that reforms initiated under federal oversight—including new systems to track the use of force and traffic stops and searches; new procedures to hold officers accountable; and new policies and training—were sustained even after that oversight ended. Despite recent financial strains, those reforms remain in place today, and the opinions of community leaders and citizens reflect significant improvements in service. Yet Vera also found that many citizens and front-line officers remain skeptical about the reforms' impact. The report follows an earlier study which examined the impact of the consent decree during its implementation.   Read the Executive Summary     Improving Responses to Allegations of Severe Child Abuse: Results from the Instant Response Team Program Timothy Ross, Francesca Levy, and Robert Hope Download now  PDF: 968 KB/88 pages published: August 2004   Allegations of severe child abuse and neglect may require quick, coordinated responses by child welfare and law enforcement in order to reduce trauma to children and to arrest and prosecute perpetrators. This report examines the operations and outcomes of the Instant Response Team program, a collaboration between the New York City Administration for Children's Services and the New York Police Department that aims to have child protective workers, police, and, when appropriate, prosecutors respond to reports of severe child abuse or neglect within two hours and to conduct joint interviews of victims. The report found a measurable impact on services to children, and staff from all three agencies express support for the program.   Read the Executive Summary     Youth Who Chronically AWOL from Foster Care: Why They Run, Where They Go, and What Can Be Done Marni Finkelstein, Mark Wamsley, Dan Currie, and Doreen Miranda Download now  PDF: 299 KB/51 pages published: August 2004   Adolescents who leave foster care without permission may encounter dangerous situations and place burdens on many government agencies, including child welfare and police. Using data from New York City's Administration for Children's Services, Vera researchers interviewed adolescents with chronic AWOL histories as well as staff at foster care facilities. The report shows that most teens going AWOL from group care stay with friends and return to care voluntarily but that one-third are involved in high-risk situations such as drug use or physical violence. The study suggests that group care staff could provide more activities to counteract the boredom that drives many teens to run away.   Read the Executive Summary     Hard Data on Hard Times: An Empirical Analysis of Maternal Incarceration, Foster Care, and Visitation Timothy Ross, Ajay Khashu, and Mark Wamsley Download now  PDF: 163 KB/23 pages published: August 2004   The rising incarceration rates among women have raised concerns in many quarters, including child welfare. This report shows, for the first time, how many children in foster care have mothers in jail or prison. While Vera researchers found that only a small percentage of the mothers of children in care are incarcerated for 30 days or more, the number of affected children is significant enough to justify programs that allow them to visit their mothers in jail or prison. The report also supports earlier research showing that the majority of women were incarcerated after their children were placed in care.   Read the Executive Summary     Bibliography on Democratic Policing published: April 2004   Originally published by Vera in March 1998 as "Bibliography of Policing Literature with Select Annotations," this popular resource was updated in 2004 to include many more works published in languages other than English and was also converted to an on-line database. It is now hosted and maintained by Altus, the global justice alliance that Vera helped to create and of which Vera is a member. You can search the Bibliography on Democratic Policing on the Altus web site in five languages: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Russian.     Sueños, Bandas y Pistolas: La Interacción entre la Violencia Adolescente y la Inmigración en un Vecindario de la ciudad de Nueva York Pedro Mateu-Gelabert Download now  PDF: 299 KB/45 pages published: January 2004   Para prevenir la violencia entre los adolescentes, debemos entender sus causas. Este informe se basa en un trabajo de campo realizado durante cinco años en una comunidad inmigrante de la ciudad de Nueva York con la intención de describir cómo el salto generacional que separa a los adolescente de sus padres, ampliado por la inmigración, lleva a estos adolescentes a confiar en grupos violentos de compañeros para su protección. Investigaciones anteriores han explicado la violencia adolescente entre los inmigrantes como resultado de la alienación cultural, pero esta investigación sugiere que gran parte de la violencia entre los inmigrantes es una respuesta pragmática a las condiciones del vecindario. Una vez que estos adolescentes dejan sus vecindarios o las amenazas a su seguridad desaparecen, generalmente ponen fin a su relación con amigos violentos. Esta publicación está también disponible en inglés. This publication is also available in English.   Read the Executive Summary     Patterns of Criminal Conviction and Incarceration Among Mothers of Children in Foster Care in New York City Miriam Ehrensaft, Ajay Khashu, Timothy Ross, and Mark Wamsley Download now  PDF: 277 KB/34 pages published: December 2003   Maternal incarceration may affect the number of children entering foster care and the length of time they spend in care. In collaboration with the New York City Administration for Children's Services, Vera researchers examined the patterns of arrest and incarceration of mothers of children in foster care by matching child welfare and criminal justice records, focusing on children who entered foster care in 1991 and 1996. This report presents the rates of conviction and incarceration of mothers of children in foster care and examines the sequence in which maternal arrest, incarceration, and foster care placement occurred.   Read the Executive Summary     The Challenges of Replacing Prison with Drug Treatment: Implementation of New York State's Extended Willard Program James Wilson, Steven Wood, Robert Hope, and Kajal Gehi Download now  PDF: 1.5 MB/59 pages published: September 2003   Extended Willard is a New York State entry in the growing number of programs that emphasize treatment rather than long prison sentences for nonviolent substance-abusing offenders. This report on the implementation of the three-phase, 15-month Extended Willard pilot program evaluates enrollment, completion rates for participants, and the way that criminal justice agencies and non-governmental treatment providers work together to run the program. Results show that creation of new sentencing options may not be sufficient to change sentencing practices. Although about half of those sentenced to Extended Willard completed the program successfully, courts sent less than one-fifth of those with eligible criminal records to the program, sending most to prison instead.   Read the Executive Summary     Implementing a School Safety Project: An Evaluation of the I.S. 275 Brownsville Youth for Peace School Safety Project Milton Mino Download now  PDF: 322 KB/23 pages published: February 2003   In 1999, students, teachers, and staff at Intermediate School 275 in Brooklyn, New York, created the Brownsville Youth for Peace safety project with a $120,000 federal grant. In this publication, Vera researchers report on how the school implemented the project and the challenges it faced, which are common among schools that have implemented safety projects. The report discusses lessons that other schools should consider when they are planning safety programs, such as the necessity of developing strategies to recruit and retain project participants and the importance of linking safety problems to tested solutions.   Read the Executive Summary     Turning Necessity Into Virtue: Pittsburgh’s Experience with a Federal Consent Decree Robert C. Davis, Christopher W. Ortiz, Nicole J. Henderson, Joel Miller, and Michelle K. Massie Download now  PDF: 1,065 KB/81 pages published: September 2002   In 1997, the Justice Department for the first time used its power to sue a city over a “pattern or practice” of policing that violated federal law or the U.S. Constitution. The department entered into a five-year consent degree with the city of Pittsburgh that police officials and civil rights groups generally view as a success in terms of increasing police accountability and improving officer training. This report examines specific elements of the Pittsburgh experience that helped to bring the police department into compliance with the decree, such as a strong implementation committee and an early-warning system that could identify officers in need of corrective supervision, and highlights issues that require continued attention, such as community relations and employee morale. This report was released by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). Read the COPS press-release announcing its publication.   Read the Executive Summary     The Network Program of Episcopal Social Services: A Process Evaluation Don Stemen Download now  PDF: 537 KB/35 pages published: September 2002   The Network Program of the private nonprofit Episcopal Social Services provides therapeutic community services within New York State correctional and work-release facilities. This study examines how the program successfully integrated itself into the corrections environment by taking steps to gain buy-in from prison officials and staff. It also uncovers differences between the prison and work-release portions of the program. In the former, it found that the ESS network program attracted predominantly African-American offenders with long sentences, suggesting that participants use the therapeutic community to create a more supportive, less violent prison experience. The work release portion of the program adhered more closely to the ESS’ stated goal of providing training for re-entry. The decision to include family members in the therapeutic community was found to be a potentially significant innovation as it held promise for extending the therapeutic community’s benefits beyond the initial re-entry period.   Read the Executive Summary     What Keeps Children in Foster Care from Succeeding in School?: Views of Early Adolescents and the Adults in Their Lives Marni Finkelstein, Mark Wamsley, and Doreen Miranda Download now  PDF: 662 KB/61 pages published: July 2002   As a group, children in foster care struggle academically. Researchers interviewed 25 foster children and 54 of the adults in their lives to better understand how being in foster care affects a child's education, and how adults can help them succeed in school. Foster children faced unique roadblocks, among them concerns about their biological parents and siblings that distract from school, and court appearances and doctors' appointments that cause frequent absences. Behavior issues took attention off academics, and many foster children avoided friendships, fearing that their foster status would be discovered. Foster parents, caseworkers, and school staff each lacked a full picture of the children's needs. Making one adult responsible for children's educational progress would be useful. Giving caseworkers access to children's academic records and giving school staff information about a child's foster situation could also help. Finally, school staff could be trained on the demands the foster care system makes on children.   Read the Executive Summary     Families as a Resource in Recovery from Drug Abuse: An Evaluation of La Bodega de la Familia Eileen Sullivan, Milton Mino, Katherine Nelson, and Jill Pope Download now  PDF: 586 KB/85 pages published: May 2002   This report evaluates La Bodega de la Familia (The Family Grocery), a program in New York City that works with the families of drug users who are under justice system supervision, with the goal of promoting the users' recovery. Researchers compared outcomes for Bodega participants with outcomes for a comparison group of drug users and family members, and conducted in-depth interviews with a subsample of both groups. The proportion of Bodega drug users who reported using illegal drugs declined from 80 percent to 42 percent over the six-month study period, significantly more than in the comparison group. Bodega family members also got medical and social service needs met at significantly higher rates than those in the comparison group.   Read the Executive Summary     Balancing Punishment and Treatment: Alternatives to Incarceration in New York City Rachel Porter, Sophia Lee, and Mary Lutz Download now  PDF: 627 KB/101 pages published: May 2002   Like other cities across the United States, New York is gradually increasing its use of alternatives to incarceration (or ATIs) for felony offenders. The city contracts with ten nonprofit agencies that operate their own programs and has sent these agencies about 3,000 felony offenders each year since 1997. In preparing this study, which was commissioned by the New York City Council, Vera researchers interviewed felony offenders in nine of the ten programs, along with judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers, and program staff, and examined recidivism rates for participating offenders. The report shows that offenders sent to ATIs re-offended at the same rate as a matched comparison group who spent more time in prison. Serious offenders, then, can be sent to rigorous community programs rather than jail without an increased risk to the public. The report suggests that the ATI system can further reduce recidivism by dealing more promptly with offenders who violate program rules and by increasing completion rates.   Read the Executive Summary     Supervised Treatment in the Criminal Court: A Process Evaluation of the Manhattan Misdemeanor Drug Court Rachel Porter Download now  PDF: 699 KB/41 pages published: May 2002   The Manhattan Misdemeanor Treatment Court is the only one of five treatment courts in New York City to solely target misdemeanor offenders. Based on a review of court documents and interviews with judges, attorneys, treatment providers, and offenders, this report concludes that the court successfully implemented a collaborative approach to screen, assess, and monitor people in treatment. But more than three-quarters of its participants said cocaine or heroin was their drug of choice, suggesting that severity of addiction is not correlated with severity of offending among this group. Because participants' treatment needs are greater than anticipated, the court must confront the limits of the treatment it offers. The court was most successful with defendants who had the least number of prior convictions and the shortest treatment assignments.   Read the Executive Summary     A Study of the PINS System in New York City: Results and Implications Eric Weingartner, Andrea Weitz, Ajay Khashu, Robert Hope, and Megan Golden Download now  PDF: 455 KB/38 pages published: April 2002   Following the recent passage of a New York State law that raises the age limit for petitioning a youth as a Person in Need of Supervision (PINS) from 16 to 18, and a Vera Institute report that studied the likely impact of the law, the New York City Administration for Children's Services commissioned the Vera Institute to perform a close study of city PINS cases. Researchers examined 200 PINS cases in Brooklyn and Queens to see how agencies in these boroughs respond to families in crisis and which children spend time in foster care as part of the process.   Read the Executive Summary     Working Together to Improve School Safety: An Evaluation of the Park West Problem-Solving Collaborative Initiative Milton Mino Download now  PDF: 481 KB/31 pages published: April 2002   In light of growing concerns about school safety at the local and national level and particularly at Manhattan's troubled Park West High School, The Citizens Committee for New York City, the New York City Police Department Division of School Safety, and the city's Board of Education created the Park West Problem Solving Collaborative Initiative. The project brought together students, teachers, parents, and school safety agents to design and implement their own school safety projects. This report examines the implementation and success of the projects and offers suggestions for the implementation of similar programs in the future.   Read the Executive Summary     Dreams, Gangs, and Guns: The Interplay Between Adolescent Violence and Immigration in a New York City Neighborhood Pedro Mateu-Gelabert Download now  PDF: 209 KB/41 pages published: April 2002   To prevent violence among adolescents, we must understand its causes. This report draws on five years of field work in an immigrant community in New York City to describe how the generation gap separating immigrant adolescents from their parents, made wider by immigration, leads these children to rely on violent peer groups for protection. Previous research has tried to explain adolescent violence among immigrants in terms of cultural alienation, but this research suggests that much violence among immigrant adolescents is a pragmatic response to neighborhood conditions. Once these adolescents leave their neighborhoods or the threats to their safety disappear, they generally end their involvement with violent peers. This publication is also available in Spanish. Esta publicación está también disponible en español.   Read the Executive Summary     How Children's Foster Care Experiences Affect Their Education Dylan Conger and Alison Rebeck Download now  PDF: 355 KB/62 pages published: December 2001   Using a combined database of school and child welfare records for more than 16,000 foster children, researchers considered the impact of such factors as length of stay in care, type of foster home, history of running away, and reason for entering foster care on children's educational experiences. Foster care had a strong effect on children's attendance and school transfers but only minor effects on their reading and math test scores.   Read the Executive Summary     Reducing the Foster Care Bias in Juvenile Detention Decisions: The Impact of Project Confirm Dylan Conger and Timothy Ross Download now  PDF: 277 KB/51 pages published: December 2001   Children in foster care who are arrested for delinquent acts are more likely than other children to be sent to juvenile detention to await their trials, even when they are charged with the same type of crime as their nonfoster peers. The results can be damaging for the children and expensive for taxpayers. For the first time anywhere, this report quantifies the foster care bias in detention decisions and shows that a relatively simple intervention can eliminate it for juveniles facing low-level offenses and with no prior records. The report also identifies obstacles to eliminating these disparities in more serious cases.   Read the Executive Summary     The Experiences of Early Adolescents in Foster Care in New York City: Analysis of the 1994 Cohort Timothy Ross, Mark Wamsley, and Ajay Khashu Download now  PDF: 245 KB/37 pages published: December 2001   Adolescents account for almost half of New York City's foster kids, yet relatively little is known about their experiences in foster care. Adolescents present a different set of challenges than younger children, for whom adoption or reunification are standard options. Using data from the Administration for Children's Services, this report describes the experiences of more than 2,000 adolescents who entered foster care for the first time in New York City in 1994. The study provides new information on who runs away from care, who spends time in juvenile detention, and the cost of care for different groups. Our findings show that what happens to adolescents as they travel through care depends in large part on the reason they entered care. Kids who enter because of abuse or neglect, for example, stay in care longer than those who enter because of a PINS (persons in need of supervision) petition, or those who are voluntarily placed by their parent. Similar variation is found on other outcomes, such as running away, the chances of family reunification, and placement stability.   Read the Executive Summary     Changing the PINS System in New York: A Study of the Implications of Raising the Age Limit for Persons in Need of Supervision (PINS) Jesse Souweine and Ajay Khashu Download now  PDF: 1.1 MB/51 pages published: October 2001   In December 2000, the New York State Legislature passed a law that raises the age limit for petitioning a youth as a Person in Need of Supervision (PINS) from 16 to 18. Under this new law, which is scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2002, troubled 16- and 17-year-olds across New York State will begin to enter a system already struggling to deal with younger children who skip school, leave home, or disobey their parents. This study examines the strengths and weaknesses of the current system and provides the first comprehensive projections of the impact of this new legislation on juvenile justice and social service systems in New York. The report also suggests various approaches to handling the additional cases that could make the whole system stronger.   Read the Executive Summary     A System in Transition: An Analysis of New York City's Foster Care System at the Year 2000 Timothy Ross Download now  PDF: 330 KB/44 pages published: June 2001   Commissioned by the Administration for Children's Services (ACS), A System in Transition is one of the first studies to use data from ACS's Child Care Review System to identify broad trends in the child welfare system. The study addresses three areas: the characteristics of children in foster care, placement stability, and children leaving care without permission (AWOL). For each subject area, the report suggests policy implications and ideas for future research by using point-in-time, trend, and cohort analysis. These multiple approaches provide a comprehensive look at the critical challenges facing child welfare managers.   Read the Executive Summary     Classifying Inmates for Strategic Programming Eileen Sullivan, Carmen Cirincione, Katherine Nelson, and Jennifer Wallis Download now  PDF: 249 KB/70 pages published: March 2001   In an effort to improve its methods of selecting jail inmates appropriate for drug treatment, the New York City Department of Corrections (DOC) asked Vera to design and test models that could predict length of stay. This presents the result of that work.   Read the Executive Summary     Arrested Development: Substance Abuse and Mental Illness Among Juveniles Detained in New York City Jean Callahan and Melissa Froehle Download now  PDF: 26 KB/6 pages published: December 2000   Findings from survey of 27 juveniles in detention in New York City during Summer 2000.   Read the Executive Summary     Testing Community Supervision for the INS: An Evaluation of the Appearance Assistance Program Eileen Sullivan, Felinda Mottino, Ajay Khashu, and Moira O'Neil Download now  PDF: 253 KB/82 pages published: August 2000   In 1996, the Immigration and Naturalization Service asked Vera to establish a supervised release project for people in removal proceedings in New York City. The INS goal was the explore supervision and evaluate its effect on people's rates of appearance in court and compliance with court ruling compared to other alternatives to detention already used by the agency, such as bond, parole, and release on recognizance. The Appearance Assistance Program (AAP), a three year test of community supervision for people in immigration removal proceedings, began operating in February 1997, and closed in March 2000. The AAP demonstrated that the INS does not have to detain all noncitizens in removal proceedings to ensure high rates of appearance at immigration court hearings. Ninety-one percent of participants in the intensive program attended all required hearings in comparison to 71% of noncitizens released on bond or parole. Among this report's other findings: supervision is more cost effective than detention and AAP supervision almost doubled the rate of compliance with final orders.   Read the Executive Summary     Implementing a Drug Court in Queens: A Process Evaluation Rachel Porter Download now  PDF: 76 KB/31 pages published: August 2000   The report is the first of three studies assessing the implementation of drug courts in New York City.   Read the Executive Summary     School Violence: The Bi-Directional Conflict Flow Between Neighborhood and School Pedro Mateu-Gelabert Download now  PDF: 196 KB/28 pages published: July 2000 <