A snapshot of the work we’ve done this past month, from gathering researchers, practitioners, and advocates from across the country for the first-ever SJC Research Symposium in St. Louis to debuting our work supporting survivors of gender-based violence in accessign supportive services.

The fifth cohort of the Kriegel Fellowship welcomes 21 chiefs of staff from across all five boroughs and the Hudson Valley. For the next few months, they will engage in discussions with policy experts, network, and build the skills to support them in their current roles and their future journeys in public service. 

The FBI's recently released crime data confirms what we know: the pandemic-era spike in crime has largely subsided. But what caused it? To understand the big picture, we need to go deeper than federal data, which is only released annually.

October 10th is World Mental Health Day. We’re spotlighting a few of our partners who’ve committed to making mental health services more widely available, particularly for underserved groups.  

A snapshot of the work we’ve done this summer: debuting work across the country, from an innovative model for community investment in New York City to prosecutorial dashboards in Washington State; kicking off a Grassroots Policy Incubator to bring local leaders to the table; and going north of the border to optimize state governments in Canada.

For the first time in Snohomish County’s history, this collective data allows for a holistic picture of the functioning of the local criminal legal system, from the point of initial contact with law enforcement through the disposition of a case.

The PPPI brings together students from across CUNY schools, fields of study, and degree programs to be a part of the work CUNY ISLG researchers, policy administrators, data scientists, and budget experts are doing in New York City and across the country.

The Law and Justice Dashboard, developed for Snohomish County in partnership with CUNY ISLG, is one of the first in the nation to combine both law enforcement and prosecutor data to provide users a better understanding of affected persons’ involvement in the law and justice system.

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.