Juvenile Justice

John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the New York City Department of Correction, NYC Justice Corps: Evaluation of a Community Reentry Program

Young people with criminal records face many challenges when they return to their home communities. With limited skills and work experience, and often without high school diplomas, they are at high risk for further criminal involvement and lives of poverty. NYC Justice Corps seeks to improve the neighborhoods most affected by criminal activity and the reintegration of young people ages 18 to 24 into those communities through a six-month program of job readiness and life-skills development, service learning and community-benefit projects, supportive services, and internships. Metis Associates has been engaged to evaluate implementation of the program, which began in fall 2008 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, and in the Melrose, Mott Haven, and Morrisania sections of the Bronx. Metis is working with Westat, which is conducting an outcome evaluation utilizing a random assignment design to assess the program’s effectiveness in reducing criminal recidivism; increasing employment, job retention and wages; and promoting enrollment in educational programs.

The NYC Justice Corps was developed through a partnership between John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the New York City Department of Correction. Funded by the New York City Center for Economic Opportunity, it is operated by a “convener” organization in each community—Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation in Brooklyn and Phipps Community Development Corporation in the Bronx. Technical assistance is provided by the Center for Employment Opportunities.