Today, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams called for the passage of two bills he sponsors aimed at improving restorative justice practices in New York City jails. In testimony for a hearing of the Committee on Criminal Justice in the City Council, he highlighted the trauma and perpetuated harm of the current carceral structures and presented his legislation as an essential step towards fundamentally transforming those systems.
“Each time a person is placed behind bars, a community’s light is dimmed. Each time a person is placed behind bars, they are deprived of opportunities to pursue education, a career, friendships, family, and their dreams,” said Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams. “Through the bills up for discussion today, this body and this city can make strides to ensure that our framework of incarceration is built around restoring dignity and opportunity for those individuals caught up in the system. These bills seek to remedy our collective failure to serve the people of New York, particularly our Black and Brown communities.”
The first bill, Intro 284, would require the Department of Corrections to maintain at least one full-time social worker for every 10 incarcerated persons at each city correctional facility. This ratio reflects the heightened client care that is needed within the context of carceral institutions – Rikers Island is the largest mental health facility in New York City.
In discussing the need for more social workers in correctional facilities, the Public Advocate argued that, “Prisons are trauma centers. This trauma is so palpable, researchers have floated creating a new category of research for returning community members: Post-Incarceration Syndrome. We, the holders of power in this city, can and must address this trauma.”
The second piece of legislation, Intro 349, would require the Department of Corrections to screen all incarcerated persons without a high school diploma or GED for dyslexia within seventy-two hours of intake. The Departments of Education and Corrections would then offer dyslexia treatment programs for anyone diagnosed. Access to these screenings and treatment programs will increase incarcerated persons’ capacity to engage fully with jail educational programs. These programs are an invaluable anti-recidivism tool; the RAND Corporation found incarcerated individuals who participated in an educational program had a 43% lower likelihood of returning to prison.
The Public Advocate said of the bill that, “The failure to adequately screen and respond to dyslexia within our schools has directly contributed to the school-to-prison pipeline. For communities of more color, these failures can manifest as a ‘triple burden,’ facing a combination of discrimination based on race, dyslexia, and the stigmas of being labeled ‘at-risk.’ With investments being made within our schools to address this crisis, we must simultaneously invest within our prison system.”
These bills are part of the Public Advocate’s ongoing push to bring change to New York City jails amid the ongoing crisis on Rikers Island, which also includes legislation to end solitary confinement in New York City, and to ensure that incarcerated individuals are able to access school transcripts, social security cards, and drivers licenses. These documents are essential for building a life post-incarceration, and easy access to them can make it easier to find employment, housing, and social services to reduce recidivism. More information on these bills is available here.
Read and download the Public Advocate’s full statement in support of these bills here.
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