Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson testifies on Horizon conditions

We will now be hearing from Vanessa Gibson, the Bronx Borough President, on Zoom.

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Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

I really appreciate it.

Thank you.

And good afternoon, everyone.

And thank you, Chair Althea Stevens.

You have been overseeing an incredible and a very productive hearing today.

So I want to acknowledge you and the team at the City Council and the Committee on Children and Youth.

Thank you very, very much for the opportunity.

I had a chance to watch it for the last hour.

So I did hear Bronx District Attorney Darcelle Clark and her team.

I also heard the ACS commissioner and the administration.

I got to listen to a lot of your questions as well as your colleagues'questions.

So let me just say as your Bronx Borough President, I am all in on the continued discussions around our city's juvenile justice system.

Like you, Councilmember, I've had an opportunity to visit Horizon more than once and am horrified by the conditions of what I saw and everything you saw, I saw as well.

So I know there's a lot of work that absolutely must be done.

And I agree with you that this is a crisis and it demands a crisis response.

Just like we are in an urgency around affordability in this city, we absolutely need to be in a moment of urgency for the children that are in our juvenile justice system.

So I want to acknowledge you and thank you for today's important hearing to discuss how we improve.

the conditions for many of our justice-involved young people across the city of New York.

Too many of our young people have become involved in the justice system, and it's a crisis, and we must do more to get them back on the right and stable track.

We all have a collective obligation as elected officials, as city officials, advocates, families, and those affected to keep our schools and our communities free

from any sort of harm that would be imposed on our young people.

We have an obligation to do more, to show up differently for young people, as you always say.

And if we're not showing up for young people, then what are we doing, right?

Thank you, Chair, again, because we understand that when our judicial system determines that detention is the optimal solution for a young person,

we have to ensure that the conditions of that location, that detention facility, are conducive to rehabilitation so that they exit better than the way that they entered.

Education and restorative justice programs.

Our city is not currently meeting that standard today, which means that more must happen.