Stevens and Clark discuss Bronx caseload and information needs

They said, don't worry, Darcelle got it.

Don't worry.

No, because it was also just interesting from those conversations that we had.

Like, prime example, I think when we were talking to Staten Island, they were like, we only have 12 kids.

We kind of know because it's so small.

And even in Manhattan, I think they said they had about 24 kids, and their youth department is so small, they know because they see them on a regular basis, so it looks different.

And so, especially for the Bronx specifically, can you talk about, like, why is it so important?

Is it that we just have so many more kids, or can I just get a little bit more information on, like, why?

I could give you the stats, but I'm telling you that we account for the number of the kids that are in detention.

The crimes are happening in the Bronx, you know, unfortunately.

And additional crimes or offenses may be happening in the detention center.

At least I could speak for Horizon because that's under my jurisdiction.

which would add on to other charges as well.

So it's important for me to know because I have a lot.

We have a lot of kids that we need to service, a lot of kids that if they were preventive measures, if we could have dealt with the root causes of their crimes before they ended up before me,

We could deal with that.

So that's why we work with the stakeholders, community-based organizations.

I'm doing all I can on the preventive side as well as the prosecution side.

I'm unapologetic about having to do the prosecution work because if you know who the victims are and the safety conditions for our communities, it's necessary for prosecution to happen, but not everybody needs to be in.

And if we can do something to stabilize them, to turn them around, to let them appreciate, hold them accountable, at least making sure that the public is safe, we'd be better off.

You want to add?

Yeah, and if I may add something.

You must remember that it's only one-third, one-third of those coming through the Bronx system that we are retaining in the youth parts.

Two-thirds of them are going to family court.

So that means that we're assessing those cases early.

We're determining whether those cases should stay in the youth part or not.

And for the most part, we are sending those cases to be treated in family court and receive programs at that level.

But at our level, we're also looking at the one-third that we do retain, and those are the most important.

much more serious cases that we retain and to see what it is that we can do about providing them with community-based programming as well, which, as you know, did not exist in a large format before.

Thank you so much.

At this time, I'm going to turn it over to the public advocate who has a few questions.