From John Jay College Institute of Justice and Opportunity newsletter Institute Updates

 

NYS Governor Kathy Hochul Announced 'Jails to Jobs'
a new initiative to improve re-entry into the workforce and reduce recidivism 


"There is no justice in a system that continues to unduly punish formerly incarcerated individuals who have served their time and paid their debts to society."


Kathy Hochul,
NYS Governor 

Despite New York's advancements in creating a fairer criminal justice system, many people in state prisons struggle to access educational opportunities. Expanding higher-education opportunities for incarcerated populations provides clear benefits by reducing recidivism, increasing post-release employment, and saving taxpayer money. Incarcerated people who participate in correctional education programs are 43 percent less likely to re-offend and 13 percent more likely to obtain and retain employment after returning to their community. In addition, taxpayers save roughly $5 for every $1 invested in prison education, and recidivism rates decrease due to this investment.

Governor Hochul's 'Jails to Jobs' plan will help incarcerated and formerly incarcerated New Yorkers attain critical job skills and secure long-term employment, helping reduce recidivism and increase public safety. This will be completed through:

  • Refocusing parole officers on career planning and job placement;

  • Enabling voluntary, private-sector, in-prison employment opportunities that pay a competitive wage;

  • Expanding vocational, job readiness, and re-entry programs;

  • Restoring the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) for incarcerated individuals;

  • Allowing for educational release as an earned, re-entry opportunity;

  • Passing the Clean Slate Act;

  • Piloting a new approach to transitional housing for post-incarceration individuals;

  • Eliminating outdated supervision fees to reduce barriers for individuals returning to society after incarceration;

  • Fully staffing the parole board and prohibit outside employment for board members;

  • Facilitating access to ID cards and other vital records to enhance opportunities for released persons

To read more articles, access David Geiger’s blog at www.davidegeiger.com

Read Goodreads reviews of In the Matter of Edwin Potter at www.davidegeiger.com

IMOEP YouTube and other videos at www.davidegeiger.com/videos

IMOEP is available at Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes & Noble, and www.davidegeiger.com

“I am currently a biomedical student at Rutgers studying Psychological rehabilitation, and we had to read this book for a literature review paper but honestly, this assignment ended up becoming so much more to me. This man's book is so devastating, heartbreaking, and at times it truly just makes you want to scream. All the lost cries of despair between these pages are just...overwhelming. I hope to one day meet Edwin. He has experienced so much pain in his life, and if I ever met him, I would hug him tight and tell him how brave he was.”

 -Nicolas Valdez, 5/5 stars on Goodreads

David Geiger is a licensed and retired professional electrical engineer who spent 7 years in psychiatric hospitals and over 40 years since 1979 in the courts as a result of his schizophrenia. He began writing about mental illness and criminal justice reform in May 1998. He writes about his illness in his book In the Matter of Edwin Potter as well as those who have the illness and are caught up in the criminal legal system.