Establishes a reintegration pilot program for individuals being released from correctional facilities

• Democratic28
• Republican1

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Cordell Cleare says this is needed

Nationally, formerly incarcerated people are ten times more likely to be homeless than the general public. (1) According to 2014 numbers, 9,300 formerly incarcerated individuals were released from state prison to New York City, few of whom were referred to, or directly connected to, supportive services as part of their release plan. In fact, 23% of the time, they went straight to homeless shelters that have well-documented poor conditions, including crime and drug use. (2) This problem has only been exacerbated over the last few years. In 2017, approximately 25,000 were released from New York State prisons; upon release, 54% of these individuals were heading straight to shelters. (3) This has been dubbed the "prison-to-shelter pipeline." Reentry planning and access to comprehensive support are essential for ensuring successful reintegration into the community after incarcera- tion. The Reintegration Pilot Program establishes a proactive, struc- tured approach to reentry by providing incarcerated individuals with tailored support and services up to a year before their release and continuing for up to a year post-release. By addressing critical needs such as mental health care, substance use treatment, stable housing, job training, and employment opportunities, this program lays a solid foun- dation for successful community reintegration. The total estimated fiscal cost would be approximately $6.2 million, which is far lower than the average cost of holding an individual in local jail or state prison, which can range from $82,000 per year per person to a high of $560,000 in New York City, as well as associated costs around potential emergency room visits, homelessness, and other social determinants of health. The current prison-to-shelter pipeline creates a system that is unsafe, costly, and detrimental to good public policy. This legislation is crit- ical in providing a roadmap, as well as the necessary tools to fix a fundamentally broken system, and the vicious prison-shelter-prison cycle which is detrimental to all New Yorkers.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.