{"id":33686,"date":"2024-07-19T13:46:28","date_gmt":"2024-07-19T13:46:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/?p=33686"},"modified":"2024-07-19T13:46:28","modified_gmt":"2024-07-19T13:46:28","slug":"mayor-adams-councilmember-hanks-celebrate-5-million-investment-in-first-ever-staten-island-community-justice-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/archives\/33686","title":{"rendered":"Mayor Adams, Councilmember Hanks celebrate $5 million investment in first-ever Staten Island community justice center"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK \u2013 New York city Mayor Eric Adams and New York city Councilmember Kamillah Hanks celebrated a major investment that will go towards delivering the Staten Island Community Justice Center \u2014 the first justice center of its kind in the borough.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The center \u2014 also supported by funding from Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon \u2014 will now receive a $5 million capital investment that was part of the city\u2019s recently passed on-time, balanced, and fiscally-responsible $112.4 billion Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Adopted Budget that addresses the city\u2019s affordability crisis head-on and invests in the future of the city and the working-class people who make New York the greatest city in the world.<\/p>\n

This funding delivers on a key commitment made in Mayor Adams\u2019 \u201cA Blueprint for Community Safety,\u201d a forward-thinking roadmap with upstream solutions to address gun violence throughout the five boroughs.<\/p>\n

A project of the Center for Justice Innovation, the Staten Island Community Justice Center will provide an array of programs for both youth and adults that are impacted by the justice system.<\/p>\n

This $5 million capital investment puts Staten Island on the path towards receiving a dedicated state-of-the-art space and expanded programming to increase opportunities for young people housed at the former criminal court on Targee Street in the Stapelton neighborhood of Staten Island.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have long said that public safety is the prerequisite to prosperity,\u201d said Mayor Adams.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut to truly invest in public safety, we must focus on upstream solutions that give our communities \u2014 particularly our youth \u2014 a positive and productive stream to thrive in and that is exactly what the Staten Island Community Justice Center will do. I am proud to partner with Councilmember Hanks and District Attorney McMahon to realize a vision laid out in our \u2018Blueprint for Community Justice.\u2019 What was once a criminal court will now be transformed into a community-driven center that will focus on giving our youth the tools and opportunities needed to succeed and contribute to our society over their lifetimes. This is a true testament to the power of community, backed by the proven model that has already succeeded in achieving lasting success under the leadership of our partners at the Center for Justice Innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am excited to be moving toward the realization of Staten Island\u2019s first Community Justice Center \u2014 it’s been a long time coming for our borough,\u201d said Councilmember Hanks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis investment marks a significant step towards Staten Island finally having a community justice center like the other boroughs in the city. The opening of this center will enhance public safety and strengthen community trust in our justice system. It will offer vital services and opportunities for young people and adults affected by the justice system, aiming to decrease crime and incarceration, while promoting a safer Staten Island. I want to express my appreciation to Mayor Adams and his administration for their support and commitment to making this possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Staten Island Community Justice Center is an absolute game changer for Staten Island,\u201d said Richmond County District Attorney Michael McMahon.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, thanks to a $5 million capital investment secured in New York City’s Fiscal Year 2025 Adopted Budget and our partners Mayor Eric Adams, Councilmember Kamillah Hanks, and the Center for Justice Innovation, we are one step closer to making the dream of a Staten Island Community Justice Center a reality! Critical to addressing recidivism, youth violence, and our borough’s public safety as a whole, the Staten Island Community Justice Center will help address the underlying conditions of crime by offering eligible defendants\u2019 meaningful diversion and restorative and mediation programming, as well as provide the broader community with a central hub for much-needed services. Starting in 2018, my office partnered with the Center for Justice Innovation to study the feasibility of bringing such a site to our shores and to change Staten Island’s shameful distinction as the lone borough in New York City without a community justice center. Since then, my office has worked tirelessly alongside the Center for Justice Innovation, Councilmember Hanks, Mayor Adams, Borough President Fossella, and the rest of the Staten Island elected delegation to fully realize this goal, securing hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding, identifying 67 Targee Street as the future facility’s home, and launching a wide variety of programming, which will eventually be housed in the future community-based and crime-preventative facility. There’s still more work to do, but I commend our partners in government for their combined efforts to make today’s announcement possible and I look forward to one day soon opening the doors of Staten Island’s very own Community Justice Center and making our beloved borough an even safer place to call home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am proud of the Adams administration’s demonstrated commitment to decreasing crime and addressing the upstream cause of gun violence,\u201d said First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy funding Staten Island\u2019s first-ever community justice center, we are getting resources to New Yorkers in need and helping to address the underlying causes of criminal behavior. We will always continue working with the community to foster a sense of accountability and support.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnytime you can provide an opportunity for justice-involved youth to seek support that will help them to visualize a prosperous future beyond their circumstance, is always a win,\u201d said New York City Department of Youth and Community Development Commissioner Keith Howard.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs part of Mayor Adams\u2019 \u2018A Blueprint for Community Safety\u2019 plan, this new community justice center is truly a testament to his remarkable capability of staying the course to investing in a brighter future for the youth of our city.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis investment in the Staten Island Community Justice Center offers an opportunity to provide more robust, community-based public safety resources for New Yorkers,\u201d said Mayor\u2019s Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ) Director Deanna Logan.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy investing in community, we center public safety as a way to repair the harms caused by interpersonal conflict. Expanding the Staten Island Community Justice Center underscores Mayor Adams\u2019 commitment to ensuring that New York City remains our nation\u2019s safest big city.\u201d<\/p>\n

As outlined in the Adams administration\u2019s Blueprint for Community Safety, the expanded Staten Island Community Justice Center will follow the community justice model of similar centers in other boroughs, rooted in evidence-based practices and emphasizing community engagement and collaboration. By offering alternatives to traditional court processes, community justice centers aim to address the underlying causes of criminal behavior, rehabilitate individuals, and foster a sense of accountability within the community.<\/p>\n

Expanded services and programing include individual counseling, psychoeducational group programming, youth leadership, mentorship programming, reentry services, and workforce development training for youth.<\/p>\n

For justice-involved clients, the Staten Island Justice Center\u2019s holistic approach seeks to prevent the negative consequences that often accompany contact with the criminal legal system while addressing clients\u2019 needs to prevent future system involvement. Youth programming is aimed at providing participants with leadership development tools and connecting them to opportunities that promote positive engagement with the community.<\/p>\n

In January 2018, the Richmond County District Attorney\u2019s Office collaborated with the center to study the feasibility of bringing the concept of community justice to Staten Island.<\/p>\n

The first community justice centers in New York City \u2014 epitomized by Bronx Community Solutions and Brooklyn Justice Initiatives \u2014 were designed to integrate accountability and social services into the daily operation of centralized criminal courts, expanding the tools available to judges to include substance abuse treatment, mental health services, job training, and other services.<\/p>\n

The next iteration of the community justice model is exemplified by the Brownsville Community Justice Center, which offers alternative-to-incarceration services and engages residents in youth development and preventive programming but does not include a courtroom.<\/p>\n

With this new location, the Staten Island Community Justice Center will increase the frequency of the youth cohorts, grow youth impact programming, and hold more community events. In addition, the Staten Island Community Justice Center will co-locate services with more community partners and offer a \u201cone stop shop\u201d experience for community members.<\/p>\n

Thanks to the Adams administration\u2019s ongoing strong fiscal management \u2014 which was bolstered by better-than-expected revenue growth \u2014 the administration overcame unprecedented challenges in this budget cycle to stabilize the city\u2019s financial outlook and close a $7.1 billion budget gap in January 2024.<\/p>\n

Because of steady, decisive decision making, the FY25 Adopted Budget allowed the Adams administration and the City Council to reinvest in initiatives and programs that protect public safety, rebuild the city\u2019s economy, and make the city more affordable and livable for working-class New Yorkers.<\/p>\n

As part of the budget agreement, the Adams administration and the City Council joined together to pass a collaborative budget that addresses the three things that cost New Yorkers the most \u2014 housing, child care, and health care \u2014 and invests billions of dollars of city resources in critical areas, including early childhood education, libraries, parks, public safety, housing, health care, transit, cultural institutions, and more.<\/p>\n

MOCJ is the coordinating entity for the administration\u2019s criminal justice system and has expanded its support under the Adams administration for the Center for Justice Innovation (CJI), which operates community courts and community justice centers like the new, expanded center in Staten Island.<\/p>\n

MOCJ works in coordination with the CJI and the Office of Court Administration, as well as community courts, to provide quality services to individuals who are impacted by the criminal justice system as a way to reduce recidivism and the likeliness of future involvement in the criminal justice system.<\/p>\n

Through funding across the first two years of the administration, MOCJ directly supports the Midtown Community Court, Red Hook Community Justice Center, Brownsville Community Justice Center, Bronx Youth Court, and Queens Community Justice Center \u2013 The Rockaways, which all provide services \u2014 including alternatives to incarceration, individual and group counseling, mentoring, education and employment support, and mental health and substance use treatment \u2014 to individuals who encounter the criminal justice system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK \u2013 New York city Mayor Eric Adams and New York city Councilmember Kamillah Hanks celebrated a major investment that will go towards delivering the Staten Island Community Justice Center \u2014 the first justice center of its kind in the borough. The center \u2014 also supported by funding from Staten Island District Attorney Michael […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":33004,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1469,31,1378],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-york","category-news","category-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33686"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33686\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33687,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33686\/revisions\/33687"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}