Jacqueline Goodman describes inhumane conditions at Crossroads

Good afternoon, Chair and members of the City Council, although Chair, I see you're the only one here.

Thanks for sticking with us.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

My name is Jacqueline Goodman and I'm an attorney with the Legal Aid Society and I was actually visiting clients at Crossroads on Friday when you and fellow council members were there and I appreciate you making that visit.

We are glad to see the Mamdani administration begin to take action to address the crisis that is the inhumane, overcrowded conditions young people have been subjected to for several years at Crossroads and Horizon.

These conditions are the foreseeable consequences of a system that incarcerates far too many young people,

forcing many to sleep in classrooms and hallways, deprived of an adequate education, appropriate programming, and, unbelievably, leaving some with no choice but to urinate or defecate in trash bins due to a lack of bathroom access.

These unsafe and unacceptable living conditions demand an immediate fix.

Even OCFS has finally declined to reissue a waiver of state regulations that purported to greenlight the city's overpopulation of these facilities.

And it appears that the State Commission on Correction is declining to do so as well.

Every day, these children in the city's care are being harmed.

Although the new administration has taken some steps to address this crisis, sustained and urgent action remains necessary.

We must decarbonize.

This requires ensuring that there are adequate and appropriate opportunities for alternatives to incarceration.

The city has 50 new beds underway, but this is unlikely to suffice.

The city must invest in young people before they become system involved.

In year-round paid employment, community-based programs,

credible messengers, and safe spaces where young people can learn, grow, and thrive.

We call on the administration to work to safely return a significant number of young people, as you, Chair Stevens, have also called for,

to their communities by December, and to demand accountability from the NYPD, district attorneys, and judges whose decisions contribute to this crisis.

Our children deserve safety, dignity, education, and opportunity, not overcrowded facilities that fail to meet their most basic needs and cause them affirmative harm.

Thank you.