The District Attorney’s Office is requesting proposals to plan an accessible, welcoming, and engaging Resource Center to re-imagine Criminal Court as a resource that presents opportunities to access services. A well-planned Resource Center would provide comprehensive and coordinated linking to voluntary services for defendants passing through Criminal Court—and the thousands of family members and concerned others that come into contact with the court system and who also have unmet needs. It could also provide an array of sentencing resources to the court to expand upon current offerings and serve a more diverse range of needs and offense/criminal history profiles.

Each year, defendants in nearly 60,000 cases appear in Manhattan Criminal Court with a misdemeanor as their most serious charge. Many of these defendants are sentenced to an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal (ACD) (a six-month probationary period sometimes combined with a mandate to participate in community service or a program, at the court’s discretion) or community service. Sentencing options are especially limited for individuals who have appeared before the court many times on misdemeanor charges, who may not present a risk to public safety but typically have unmet needs—related to employment, education, housing, their physical, behavioral, mental health, and others—that contribute to their recidivism.

The Resource Center will support defendants in Manhattan Criminal Court who would benefit from tailored, effective, and proportionate court mandates, in addition to providing opportunities to link individuals to voluntary services that would prevent reoffending by addressing defendants’ needs and facilitating a sense of fairness, or procedural justice, for defendants.

This is an opportunity for the courts to be a locus for resources, to maximize this contact and opportunity for service.

The District Attorney’s Office will fund up to $150,000 for a 6-month award to plan a Resource Center in Manhattan. DANY may award implementation and capital funding for the Resource Center at a future date.

Documents

• CJII Request for Proposals: Manhattan Criminal Court Resource Center Planning
• ADDENDUM 1: Applicant Questions and Answers

Deadlines

• The deadline to submit questions about this RFP was Tuesday, April 18, 2017, at 11:59 p.m. EST.
• The deadline to submit proposals was Friday, May 26, 2017, at 11:59 p.m. EST.

Background

ISLG is the technical assistance consultant to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office for CJII. ISLG manages the grantees funded under CJII and provides oversight and performance measurement throughout the lifetime of the initiative. All funds are administered through the Research Foundation of CUNY (Research Foundation).

Last updated June 30, 2017