For Immediate Release: 10/15/2018

Janine Kava | janine.kava@dcjs.ny.gov
Justin Mason | justin.mason@dcjs.ny.gov  
Press Office, Division of Criminal Justice Services | (518) 457-8828

New York State announces $2.2 million in grants to reduce recidivism

Funding allows jails in 14 counties and New York City to offer cognitive behavioral intervention

Programs will help 1,300 offenders change patterns of thinking that lead to criminal behavior

New York State has awarded more than $2.2 million in funding for jail-based programs to help individuals who are incarcerated change patterns of thinking, improve positive motivation and further develop social skills that will help them lead crime-free lives. Administered by the state Division of Criminal Justice Services, the funding will allow nine not-for-profit organizations and one local agency to offer cognitive behavioral intervention services at 11 county jails across the state for the first time. The funding will continue four existing programs in three counties and in New York City.

“Our goal is to help individuals involved with the criminal justice system change the problematic thinking that contributed to their unlawful behavior so they can succeed and lead productive, crime-free lives once they return to their community,” said Michael C. Green, Executive Deputy Commissioner of the Division of Criminal Justice services. “This funding will help us greatly expand an effective evidence-based program among at-risk populations incarcerated at local jails, which often don’t offer cognitive behavioral intervention services.”

Collectively, the programs will enroll about 1,300 individuals either serving a jail sentence or in pre-trial detention, each of whom are deemed at either a moderate or high risk of reoffending when they are released. These new grants triple the number of jail-based cognitive behavioral intervention programs supported by the state.

County jails house an average of 24,000 individuals across the state. About two-thirds of them are convicted of another crime within five year of their release. Cognitive behavioral intervention is designed to help these individuals examine their thoughts and emotions, recognize negative patterns of thinking that are escalating in intensity, and then use certain strategies to change their mindset and behavior before it results in criminal conduct.

Not-for-profit organizations, sheriff’s offices, jail administrators and local agencies, such as probation departments, were eligible to apply for the grants. Organizations and agencies unaffiliated with jails they aimed to serve were required to submit a letter of support from the sheriff or jail administrator. The grant will fund the programs for one year with three optional, one-year renewals. Each contract is performance-based with the programs required to achieve milestones and specific objectives.

The grants reflect New York State's continued use of cost-effective and evidence-based policy making using the Results First model, which identifies programs that are both effective in reducing recidivism and cost-efficient in using taxpayer dollars. The Pew Charitable Trusts and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation recognized the state's work in a national case study published in 2016, which estimated New York could gain $2.52 of benefit from every dollar invested in cognitive behavioral intervention services. The following organizations are being funded:

New York City / Long Island

• Osborne Association, $200,000 to serve New York City Department of Corrections facilities
• Leadership Training Institute, $200,000 to serve Suffolk County; $300,000 to serve Nassau County

Mid-Hudson

• Hudson Valley Community Services, Inc., $129,099 to serve Westchester County
• MADE Transitional Services, $127,381 to serve Rockland County
• Project MORE, $150,700 to serve Dutchess County

Capital Region

• TASC of the Capital District, $137,000 to serve Rensselaer County
• Trinity Alliance of the Capital Region Inc., $88,918 to serve Albany County

Mohawk Valley

• Oneida Workforce Development, $146,700 to serve Oneida County

Southern Tier

• Southern Tier AIDS Program, Inc., $145,200 to serve Broome County

Central New York

• Cayuga Counseling Services, $63,450 to serve Cayuga County
• Center for Community Alternatives, $170,000 to serve Onondaga County
• Oswego County Probation Department, $27,500 to serve Oswego County

Finger Lakes

• Volunteers of America of Upstate New York, $217,730 to serve Monroe County
• Catholic Charities of Livingston County, $135,700 to serve Livingston County

The Division of Criminal Justice Services (www.criminaljustice.ny.gov) has a variety of responsibilities, including law enforcement training; collection and analysis of statewide crime data; maintenance of criminal history information and fingerprint files; administrative oversight of the state's DNA databank, in partnership with the New York State Police; funding and oversight of probation and community correction programs; administration of federal and state criminal justice funds; support of criminal justice-related agencies across the state; and administration of the state's Sex Offender Registry.