Click Here to Download Cy Vance's White Paper: A Plan to Reduce Recidivism - Enhancing Reentry Services [1]

A District Attorney’s Office must measure its success not just in the number of convictions it achieves, but also in the Office’s ability to reduce crime over the long term. Prosecutors have great discretion over when to bring charges and can influence the type and length of sentence. We should use these levers of prosecutorial discretion judiciously—always putting public safety first, but recognizing the high social and economic costs of conviction and incarceration.

In New York State approximately 26,000 individuals are released each year from state prisons, and approximately 4,500 return to Manhattan, according to the NYS Division of Parole. Approximately 38 percent of these individuals are reincarcerated within three years. These individuals often lack necessary job skills and face myriad socio-economic challenges that also include the stigma of a conviction. Without housing, employment and support services, former inmates are left with few options when they leave prison, putting them at increased risk of recidivism.

New York’s prisoner reentry provider community has shown that safe and effective prisoner reentry programs can close this “revolving door” and significantly improve public safety by preventing new crimes from being committed. Several have participated in District Attorney Robert Morgenthau’s Fair Chance Initiative, which I will expand.

My Plan to Reduce Recidivism includes:

• Creating a Reentry Director. I will create a cabinet-level position responsible for overseeing successful reintegration of former offenders into the community. This position will oversee the development, implementation, oversight and expansion of our reentry program, and work with foundations, organizations, corrections agencies and other governmental agencies.
• Immediately Engaging Upon Release. Since 30 percent of those released are rearrested within one year, there is a narrow window of opportunity to reach former inmates. Providing services concurrent with release is vital and will be made a top priority of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
• Focusing on Comprehensive “Wraparound” Services. The DA’s office will be committed to helping coordinate and promote services. This will involve close collaboration between corrections, parole and service providers, and will be focused on employment-related needs, safe and drug-free transitional housing, and substance abuse treatment for offenders who have a history of chemical abuse. Additional services will include:
• Drug treatment – sobriety maintenance and relapse prevention services.
• Educational assistance – ranging from pre-GED, to college preparation, to substantial computer skills classes that will provide intensive training and workforce preparation.
• Financial Literacy – helping participants manage their earned income and plan for the future.
• Life Skills – classes that teach anger management and conflict resolution.
• Career services – career development specialists will provide career planning and interview preparation, help locate stable jobs with opportunities for advancement, and monitor progress in the workforce.
• Promoting immediate transitional employment. Research shows that lack of employment is the chief factor of recidivism.
• Aggressively pursuing alternatives to incarceration. Diverting first-time non-violent offenders into treatment programs when appropriate can keep a significant number of New Yorkers from beginning the cycle of incarceration. Vance is the only candidate who served on the New York State Commission on Sentencing Reform, which helped overturn the archaic Rockefeller Drug Laws.

Click Here to Download Cy Vance's White Paper: A Plan to Reduce Recidivism - Enhancing Reentry Services [2]