A program aimed at keeping nonviolent offenders out of jail and offering them new skills, has opened an office in Mott Haven.
A ribbon cutting was held for the Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services (CASES) on July 18, at their 424 East 147th Street office. The organization says it aims to provide over 1,500 Bronx residents in the criminal justice system with mental health counseling, pretrial supervision and career services annually.
CASES’ CEO Jonathan McLean said the opening of a new center that can provide all services under one roof is a breakthrough.
“For many years in the Bronx, we’ve had to cobble together spaces so that we can provide the services that people need for all the services that they need,” McLean said to attendees at the ribbon cutting.
Until now, South Bronx residents taking part in CASES’ programs have had to cross the city to access services.
The commissioner of the New York State Department of Criminal Justice Services, Rossana Rosado, said the opening of a one-stop services center for at-risk young people in the South Bronx is a sign that the administration is paying attention to the needs of that demographic.
“This progress allows us to catch our breath a little bit this year and regroup to turn our attention to providing greater opportunities for youth, advancing equity and fairness in the state’s youth criminal justice system,” said Rosado, who has lived in the South Bronx most of her life.
The organization’s boosters say their work with young people has played a major part in bringing crime rates down to pre-pandemic levels in the South Bronx, especially shootings.
The new space is part of an investment of $850 million by Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration, earmarked for prevention, re-entry, and alternative programs, and will be dispersed over two and a half years.
“CASES has played such an important role in really, at the right moment in the government structure, bringing in the services where you see the opportunity to do that,” said Carolina Chavez, first deputy director of the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justic, and a South Bronx resident.
A borough director for the new office, Nefertiti Ross, said a diverse team of social workers, therapists, court advocates, psychiatrists and employment counselors will collaborate to serve teens and adults who have been caught up in the criminal legal system, and are likely to benefit from a second chance.
Area hospitals and police precincts refer potential participants to CASES, including Assertive Community Engagement and Success. In that program, young people who are considered to be at risk of violence are mentored by their peers to help keep them out of trouble.
McLean explained that CASES’ programs “aren’t mandated. They are voluntary programs, designed to really intervene before young people get caught up in the system.”
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