The Substance Use and Mental Health Program (SUMH) is studying the impact of recent changes to New York State drug laws that allow shorter sentences and alternatives to incarceration for certain felony drug charges. The reform is a shift from mandatory sentencing guidelines limiting judicial discretion that came into effect in 1973 during the tenure of then-governor Nelson A. Rockefeller and were popularly known as the Rockefeller drug laws. The study will describe the reform’s implementation and explore its implications for public safety and criminal-justice-system costs.

Established in 2001, Vera’s Adolescent Portable Therapy (APT) project provides substance use and mental health treatment for adolescents involved in, or at risk of becoming involved in, the juvenile justice system. The program’s family counseling model of service helps families build on their inherent strengths to support their adolescents in making positive changes in their lives. APT also helps other programs to improve their practice through training and technical assistance.

The Comprehensive Transition Planning Project (CTPP) applies research and technical assistance to understand the needs of people held at New York City’s main jail facility, Rikers Island, and the extent to which existing reentry services meet those needs. Its goal is to improve services designed to help incarcerated people return to the community more successfully. CTPP is a partnership of Vera’s Program on Substance Use and Mental Health and the New York City Department of Correction.

The DC Forensic Health Project (DCFHP) uses data from several Washington, DC agencies to gauge rates of mental health problems among people arrested in the District and to assess the services they receive. Its aim is to provide government and community-based organizations with the information they need to improve the effectiveness and reach of mental health services.

The Los Angeles Jail to Community Reentry Project seeks to inform improvements to reentry services for people returning to the community. This project expands upon the Substance Use and Mental Health Program's work on jail reentry in New York City using empirical data to assess the existing range of reentry interventions, with a particular focus on meeting the needs of L.A.’s racially and ethnically diverse jail population.