The talk series brought together researchers and on-the-ground stakeholders from across the criminal legal field—including advocates, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, and service providers—to reflect on New York’s sweeping changes to its criminal legal system, five years after the legislation has passed.

Over the past two decades, the average length of stay in New York City jails has increased 136%, from a low of 44 days among those discharged in FY 2001 to 104 days in FY 2023. While much of the blame for this increase has been placed on the COVID pandemic — and certainly the pandemic exacerbated issues, as it did around the country — that is far from the whole story here.

Put another way, if policymakers smartly address the underlying forces that shape admissions and length of stay, they can not only predict future jail populations, but help control them.

The Fellowship seeks to help chiefs of staff and other legislative office leaders excel in their current positions, network with other chiefs of staff, and grow confidently into the next generation of elected officials and public service leaders.

This spring, 22 chiefs of staff, deputy chiefs of staff, and other legislative office leaders within city and state legislative offices graduated from CUNY ISLG’s Kriegel Fellowship class of 2023.

Can other approaches create safer communities, while avoiding some of the harms of policing? Recent studies have provided support for the notion that the existence or strengthening of nonprofit neighborhood organizations — whether or not they are directly aimed at reducing violence — can have a dramatic effect, particularly on homicides.

Elected officials also face an obstacle course of requests, demands, and options on every issue imaginable; through this, it’s important to remember that following the data is the surest way to build a fairer criminal legal system with a smaller footprint.

The talk series brought together leaders from across the criminal legal field, including prosecutors, defense attorneys, former judges, and service providers to discuss how to safely reduce reliance on incarceration while keeping the community safe.

Domestic violence can take on many forms—and financial control is one of them, with 94-99 percent of domestic violence survivors experiencing economic abuse. In New York City, many organizations offer services that help survivors overcome these issues by establishing financial security and facilitating opportunities, including many that are part of the Criminal Justice Investment Initiative.

Throughout the program, MLP staff worked to support youth with learning disabilities and ensure that they could thrive academically. The program also facilitated collaboration across sectors and organizations to best serve participants’ needs.

Beyond the financial benefits of the program, investing in families also has long-term social benefits that could be even more valuable. Ensuring that students in New York have equitable access to special education services and accommodations is thus beneficial financially and socially.

This unprecedented influx of immigration and the challenges that come with it mean these immigrants—especially those with families—face unique and complex challenges when navigating housing, legal, and other social service systems. These challenges are even greater for immigrants who are experiencing or are survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV).