District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., awarded grants to three organizations to create early diversion programs that provide participants with opportunities to avoid prosecution and an arrest record, while being held accountable in a community setting.

The initiative is modeled after the success of the Office’s signature Project Reset pilot program, a collaboration by the District Attorney’s Office, the Center for Court Innovation (CCI), and NYPD. Under Project Reset, 16- and 17-year-old first-time arrestees who are arrested for low-level offenses are eligible to complete a counseling program, or other age-appropriate interventions, administered by CCI. To date, 432 teens have successfully completed Project Reset and have had their cases dismissed without ever setting foot in a courtroom. 51 additional teens are currently enrolled in the program.

The groups receiving grants will serve eligible participants over the age of 18 – first-time arrestees, charged with non-violent misdemeanor crimes – with similar pre-arraignment intervention opportunities throughout Manhattan. Certain programs will target young adults between the ages of 18-to-20-years-old. The District Attorney’s Office will provide total funding, estimated at approximately $7.76 million, over three-and-one-half years. The following vendors receiving awards are expected to help serve an estimated 5,000 people each year:

• Center for Court Innovation
  • Primary Demographic: Young adults and adults arrested in Midtown Manhattan, and adults arrested in Lower Manhattan
  • Services and Programming:  Individuals may participate in a range of diversion workshops focused on topics such as public health, legal resources, community service, education, and workforce; individual counseling; or a restorative justice program, as well as be linked – if interested – to additional outside services
• Osborne Association 
  • Primary Demographic: Young adults and adults arrested in Northern Manhattan
  • Services and Programming: Individuals will participate in one of four core interventions: a trauma-coping intervention, a restorative justice intervention, a Naloxone treatment training program, and community benefit projects, as well as be linked – if interested – to additional outside services
• Young New Yorkers
  • Primary Demographic: Young adults arrested in Lower Manhattan
  • Services and Programming: Individuals will participate in an arts-based restorative justice intervention that engages participants in taking responsibility for their actions through storytelling, utilizing video, photography, and collage, as well as be linked – if interested – to additional outside services