Stevens questions DA Clark on pilot funding and duration
Stevens asks whether the JIBI and Bronx Restore pilot programs are funded by the DA's office. Clark says the office applies for grants and provides matching funds, and describes JIBI as a small pilot aimed at youth other programs reject.
Well, thank you.
I'm D.A.
Clark.
We really appreciate you being here.
And you have always been very loud and vocal about wanting to make sure that young people don't even reach you.
And so not only have you been talking about preventative stuff, but I just have some questions about some of these pilot programs.
You spoke about like the Justice Innovation for the Bronx, the JIB, and the Bronx Restore.
Are those all programs that the DA's office is funding?
Well, some of it, we have grants.
We receive grants to get the money, but none of it was, it's my office and the grants that we have.
So the grants that you guys have seeked to get to run these other programs.
We apply for the grants in order to do these programs because we found that there were not enough programming to address these particular issues.
I put up funding as well, so we match what they give us.
How long have these pilots have been going?
Like, when did they start?
How long is the time period for these pilots?
Do you want to know that?
Well, we just started.
The Jibby was awarded, I believe, two years ago.
So we're still in the process of putting it together, having the stakeholders, identifying the youth.
It's a small pilot.
We have to see if it worked first.
We never jump right in without knowing for sure whether or not it's going to work.
It's helpful because these are young people that other programs that even exist now will not take.
Yeah.
But meanwhile, I have them, and I want to do something for them.
I don't want to see them in Horizons or Crossroads if I don't have to.
So if there are alternatives to the detention, this is one of them that we're looking to use.
Yeah, I mean, one of the things that one of my colleagues when we were on the visit was asking was just around some of the programs.
If you have certain qualities.
around some mental health issues or an IEP, it disqualifies you from some of the programs.
So I'm happy to hear that you guys are stepping up and creating programs that can reach some of those kids that some of these other programs aren't accepting.
So I would love to continue to hear about the progress and see how these policies are going, because if they're working, then how do we then as a city continue to adopt those and make that standard?