ATTENTION: Project Safe Surrender

You are invited to participate in "Project Safe Surrender", a collaboration between Brooklyn clergy and Brooklyn District Attorneys Charles Hynes, in partnership with the New York State Office of Court Administration, the Legal Aid Society and the NYC Police Department.

Project Safe Surrender is a community program that helps individuals resolve summons/warrants. It also helps individuals re-enter society by connecting them with vital social assistance in the areas of health, housing, employment, employment training and education. This program was inspired by a successful United States Marshall’s initiative in 2006 called “Fugitive Safe Surrender” in which 14 cities participated and over 40,000 people surrendered voluntarily. The program offers the opportunity for individuals with warrants/summons to turn themselves in to clergy and law enforcement and to have their warrants/summons lifted and their cases adjudicated in a safe environment. This is not a pardon; but rather a solution that is favorable.

On April 22-23, 20011, from 9:00AM- 5:00PM, Project Safe Surrender will open its doors at Antioch Baptist Church and Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church for people who have open warrants/summons for the following charges:

· Unlawful possession of Alcohol under age 21
· Consumption of Alcohol in Public
· Aggressive Solicitation
· Unlawful possession of handcuffs
· Littering
· Riding a bicycle on the sidewalk
· Making unreasonable noise
· Animal nuisance
· Failure to have a dog license
· Unleashed dog
· Spitting
· Trespassing
· Disorderly conduct
· Loitering
· Unlawfully in a park after hours
· Failure to comply with posted signs in park

Please call (718) 250-3888 for more information.

ATTENTION: CHMC Seeking Paid Volunteers for NY Juvenile Justice Corps Positions

The Crown Heights Mediation Center is looking for candidates for paid volunteer positions that will start in October 2010. The positions will be offered through a new AmeriCorps program called the New York Juvenile Justice Corps. The program will serve young people currently involved or at risk of becoming involved in the juvenile justice system. Corps members receive a living stipend of $11,100 and an educational award of $5,350. The application deadline is August 30th, 2010.

CM James, ActNow Fdtn Extends Invitation To ActNow Film, "Inside A Change"; 4/8; BAM Rose

Council Member James invites the community to a special film screening at BAM on Thursday, April 8th:

ActNow: New Voices In Black Cinema
"Inside a Change"

Thursday, April 8, 2010
Showings: 4:30PM, *6:50PM, 9:30PM

BAM Rose Cinema
30 Lafayette Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11243


*The 6:50PM showing includes a Q&A with director Rik Cordero

ATTENTION: Upcoming Community Events

The next Fort Greene Association meeting, scheduled for Monday, February 22nd at 7:30PM will include forum of sorts on cost of living increases in the Fort Greene area.

Pratt Area Community Council and NYCHA reps will be on-hand to answer questions. All FG residents are welcome.

Monday, February 22, 2010
7:30PM (refreshments will be out at 7PM)
Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church
85 South Oxford Street
Fort Greene, Brooklyn
______________________________________

Join the 57th Assembly District Democratic Organization, District Leader Olanike Alabi and the Clinton Hill AARP- Chapter 2197--

In a community forum on Fire Safety presented by the Fire Department of New York. Joint carbon monoxide and smoke detectors will be distributed at the event. Please note that the second half of the meeting will be a community conversation on the race for New York State Governor and United States Senator.

Thursday, February 25, 2010
Teen Challenge Center
444 Clinton Avenue
(between Gates Avenue & Greene Avenue)
6:00pm
______________________________________

The Civic & Public Safety Committee of Brooklyn Community Board #3 will host a community presentation in conjunction with Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes on Sexual Predators.

Thursday, February 25, 2010
6:00pm
Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration
1368 Fulton Street
(between Brooklyn Avenue & New York Avenue)
Brooklyn, NY 11216

For more information you may call Ms. Saadia Adossa at 718.250.3370.

______________________________________

TONIGHT: End the Cradle to Prison Pipeline with a candlelight vigil at the

Brooklyn House of Detention
February 17, 2010
6:00pm- 8:00pm
275 Atlantic Avenue

Please bring a photo of a loved one that is in prison and a white candle. For more information you may reach out to Rev. Sylvia Kinard, Esq. at sylvknrd@aol.com.

On The Legislative Front: Department of Corrections Edition

Earlier this year, Council Member Letitia James introduced two bills that focused on greater accountability within the NYC Department of Correction (DOC).

The first was Int. 937-2009, which called on the commissioner of the DOC to report on census data and security indicators involving adolescents in NYC city jails. When the bill was introduced, the DOC reported general data which contained information regarding the overall jail population at Riker's Island. However, there was no separate information being routinely reported (or required to be reported) by the DOC specifically regarding “adolescents” who are housed separately from “adults” in Riker’s Island. This bill was signed into law by Mayor Bloomberg in May 2009, becoming local law 2009/029. This law will provide the Council and the rest of the public, information that is vital to proper oversight of the DOC, helping the Department closely monitor the most vulnerable individuals of the incarcerated community.

The second bill was Int. 938-2009, requiring the department of correction to develop a discharge plan for adolescents leaving city jails. This bill is currently being reviewed in the Council's Committee on Fire and Criminal Justice Services.

At the next Stated hearing in September (there's a Stated today, by the way), Council Member Letitia James will be introducing legislation that would require the commissioner of the DOC to report on race and ethnicity, zip code of residence, precinct of arrest and charged offense of adolescents admitted to city jails. This bill would allow the public, agencies, organizations, and elected officials to examine trends in the adolescent groups that are being arrested citywide.

Letitia looks forward to moving along with her efforts to address the rights of adolescents in City jails.

Crown Heights Re-entry Fair: Follow Up

Re-Entry Resource Fair

"Re-adjusting within the community for formerly incarcerated individuals is often a difficult experience. It is argued that they do not receive adequate facilities during their time in prison to equip them upon their release. The goal of the fair was to assist formerly incarcerated people to rehabilitate them into society in order for successful integration into the community."- Council Member Letitia James

The Re-Entry Resource fair for formerly incarcerated individuals and their families took place on November 22nd at Calvary Community Church in Crown Heights. It produced a great turnout, and many formerly incarcerated individuals were assisted on issues concerning housing, legal advocacy, counseling, family services, education, employment and career development, medical services, substance abuse treatment, and spiritual resources. Channel 12 were on hand to cover the event, and interviewed both Council Member James and individuals from Crown Heights Mediation Center, who were working closely with our office to ensure that the event was a success.


















































(Tish, British Intern/International Communications Specialist Faye Biggin, and Crown Heights Mediation Center's Molly Spevack)

COUNCIL MEMBER LETITIA JAMES, CROWN HEIGHTS MEDIATION CENTER HOST A RE-ENTRY RESOURCE FAIR, SAT. NOV. 22ND, 1PM-3PM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 19, 2008

COUNCIL MEMBER LETITIA JAMES, CROWN HEIGHTS MEDIATION CENTER, ALONG WITH CHURCHES, AND RESIDENTS OF CROWN HEIGHTS INVITE YOU TO A RE-ENTRY RESOURCE FAIR, FOR FORMERLY INCARCERATED INDIVIDUALS AND THEIR FAMILIES ON SATURDAY, NOV. 22ND, FROM 1PM–3PM

The goal of the Re-Entry Resource Fair is to assist formerly incarcerated people with rehabilitation for successful integration into society, the community, and the workforce.

Re-adjusting within the community for formerly incarcerated individuals is often a difficult experience. It has been argued that incarcerated persons do not receive adequate resources during their time in prison to equip them upon their release.

Within the employment environment, the formerly incarcerated face limited opportunities, as well as discrimination from potential employers. The U.S. Department of Justice states that, in 2007, 30% of people released from prison are rearrested in the first six months following release, 44% in the first year, and 67.5% in the first three years. This can partly be explained by inappropriate planning at the end of an inmate’s jail or prison term as well as a lack of employment opportunities and affordable housing upon release. The Independent Committee on Reentry and Employment reports that up to 60% of formerly incarcerated individuals are unemployed, as are 89% of those who violate parole or probation. Yet, if an individual has a job at the start and end of a supervised release from jail or prison, federal court statistics show that the success rate is 85%.

Finding housing for formerly incarcerated individuals is also a difficulty. Private property owners typically inquire into the background of individuals and often deny housing to anyone with a criminal background. Before1988, public housing was a solution to this issue. Ex-offenders were placed on a list like all other public housing applicants and considered based on a number of factors, including age, marital and parental status. However, Congress removed this through an amendment to the public housing statute, adopting a one-strike eviction policy for tenants in federal public housing who engage in certain types of criminal behavior. It has become virtually impossible for formerly incarcerated individuals to find stable and suitable housing.

The Re Entry Resource Fair is an opportunity for formerly incarcerated individuals, and their families, to gain professional and unbiased information on many issues that affect their everyday lives. The fair will contain information on Housing, Legal Advocacy, Counseling, Family Services, Education, Employment and Career Development, Medical Services, Substance Abuse Treatment, and Spiritual Resources.

What: Re-Entry Resource Fair for formerly incarcerated individuals and their families

Who: The Formerly Incarcerated, Churches and Residents

When: Saturday, November 22nd, from 1:00 pm until 3:00 pm

Where: Calvary Community Church, 1575 St Johns Place (at the corner of Buffalo Avenue), Brooklyn

Contact: Faye Biggin at (212) 788-7081, and CHCMC at 718-773-6886

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