Innovate
P2PH supports innovative new solutions that transform the role of public safety. We partner with local organizations, city and state agencies and other research organizations, helping scale and improve strategies alongside our partners and local communities.
PROGRAMS
Most people arrested more than once have underlying behavioral health and housing challenges that increase their exposure to police surveillance. Decades of “tough of crime” approaches left us with bloated prisons and underfunded mental health and substance use systems.
P2PH works to enhance collaboration between criminal justice stakeholders and social service providers to create new pathways to community-based alternatives to incarceration. Building on our first major project focused on reducing Subway Homeless Arrests, P2PH provides evaluation and technical assistance services on Brooklyn CLEAR, and convened a Citywide Opioid Diversion Group to enhance the integration of precinct-level deflection programs across the five boroughs of New York City.
PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS
- Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office
- Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ)
- EAC Network
- NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
- New York Police Department
Brownsville Safety Alliance
and Roundtables
Brownsville, Brooklyn, is known to many as a neighborhood with one of the highest crime rates in the city and some of the densest public housing in the country. Brownsville is also home to some of the boldest public safety innovations around today.
The Brownsville Safety Alliance (BSA) hosts week-long outdoor events to increase access to healthcare and social services for the residents of Brownsville, Brooklyn, as part of a broader anti-violence strategy developed with the NYPD’s 73rd Precinct and local stakeholders. The BSA Roundtables convene local stakeholders to identify situations of acute, elevated risk and then mobilize a mutli-disciplenary mobile responses to prevent further harms to individuals and community.
P2PH collected data on the 2021 events to garner financial support from the city for more regular inter-agency case coordination efforts aimed at preventing crises before they occur. After six months of planning and design conversations with key stakeholders, we are slated for launch in Fall, 2023.
PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS
- Brownsville In, Violence Out (BIVO) at CAMBA
- We Build the Block
- Institute for Community Living
- Brookdale Hospital Medical Center, One Brooklyn Health
- NYC Office of Neighborhood Safety
- Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office
Accelerating Bronx Mental Health Court timelines
Much of the recent surge in the population at Rikers Island jails is attributed to “case processing delays,” but the underlying issue is often that attorneys and judges find themselves “waiting for a bed” in a community-based setting that can meet the needs of clients facing multiple physical and behavioral health challenges.
P2PH worked with EAC Network and the Bronx District Attorney’s Office to reduce the time from jail to treatment placement while also reducing recidivism of individuals with mental health or co-occurring diagnoses. Through the creation of a Mental Health Unit at the Bronx District Attorney and EAC’s strong fidelity to a range of best practices in community reentry supports, this project boasted a 92% success rate (compared to 64% baseline) while drawing from a higher-risk pool of clients. This project demonstrated that even the most difficult cases can be resolved in community-based settings when the stakeholders collaborate to provide the right type and level of services for clients in need.
PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS
- EAC Network
- Bronx District Attorney
- New York State Office of Court Administration
- Bureau of Justice Assistance, National Institutes of Justice
Expanding Supervised Release in Manhattan
Pre-trial Supervised Release is perhaps New York City’s best tool to reduce the population at Rikers Island. In 2016, the city invested significant resources in SRP’s expansion and quickly lowered the jail population by 25% without experiencing any increase in crime rates.
P2PH worked with the Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services (CASES) to support and evaluate their first year of expanded programming in Manhattan.
Findings from this work not only helped CASES staff understand opportunities for further improvement, but also helped Judges understand how to better utilize the SRP programming. Most importantly, we demonstrated the need for more mental health services and youth-focused programming, leading to subsequent SRP contracts including additional resources dedicated to these key areas of improvement.
PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS
- Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services (CASES)
- NYC Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice
- NYS Office of Court Administration
- NYC Criminal Justice Agency (CJA)
