Enhancing Effectiveness Across Systems

District Attorney Vance’s CJII is focusing on enhancing efforts that cut across systems to improve public safety. These efforts seek to address gaps at a systemic level and link CJII programs together.

To achieve this, CJII aims to create a network of community navigators to connect individuals to the resources and services they need and to increase coordination among city agencies and community-based service providers.

New York City has many services and resources available for individuals involved in the justice system or at risk of becoming involved, but a number of these individuals do not or cannot access all the resources that could support them. In many instances, these services and resources may be key to getting back on track towards success—they could make a critical difference between a young person’s success or failure in school, for example, or in empowering a crime victim to address the effects of trauma and feel safe again or any number of other factors that elevate risk of individuals becoming involved in the justice system. In addition, there is a desire among service providers to increase cooperation and coordination across services to ensure people who would benefit from resources and services can access them. Community navigators can work on the go, helping individuals connect to vital services that they want or need across organizations and systems.

Additionally, across all CJII investments, it is particularly vital to acknowledge and address the effects of trauma. Trauma is a widespread public health problem that affects life outcomes and everyday functioning. More than 70% of adults in the U.S have experienced a traumatic event. Trauma can affect a person’s functioning throughout life, including in the areas of physical health, mental health, family stability, and employment.

Trauma-informed care, however, can help mitigate the harmful effects of trauma. Although multiple forms of trauma-informed care are available in NYC, factors such as treatment type, eligibility requirements, and prohibitive costs limit access to care. By focusing on trauma—and limitations of trauma-informed care in NYC—CJII aims to identify effective approaches to treating trauma in underserved groups, which could serve as the basis for better treatment of these groups citywide and can lead to improved public safety.