New York City Criminal Justice Agency, Inc.
Supervised Release Programs
Manhattan Supervised Release Building on nearly four years of experience in Queens, CJA began operating a supervised release program in Manhattan on April 8, 2013. Data presented in this report must be considered preliminary, as they include less than a full year of operations. The program accepted 303 clients during its first nine months. Although defendant populations and cases differ in the two boroughs, both programs serve persons charged with nonviolent felony offenses, and the programs share the same objectives: reducing reliance on money bail and lowering pretrial detention for a population that does not pose a substantial risk to public safety. Eligibility criteria are also the same for the two programs, except that fraud cases, which are not eligible in Queens because of their low likelihood of detention, are eligible in Manhattan. This difference arises from research showing that fraud charges in Manhattan (but not in Queens) were associated with a higher likelihood of detention.
cluded if they pose a low risk of failure to appear and are unlikely to have bail set. The screening tests developed for Queens Supervised Release were adapted for the Manhattan defendant population. Procedures for evaluating client service needs and supervision requirements were also adapted from procedures that had already been tested and shown to work well in Queens. Social workers serve as case managers in both programs, conducting the intake interviews and monitoring client progress through frequent face-to-face meetings and telephone calls. Exhibit 31 presents the number of intakes in Manhattan by month during the program’s first partial year of operation. Volume spiked with 44 clients accepted during the first full month of operation (May) and nearly as many in August (41). Volume in other full months ranged from 28 (July) to 37 (September).
Other restrictions described for Queens Supervised Release apply to the Manhattan program as well. In order to ensure that the program replaces detention because of an inability to make bail, clients are ex-
Exhibit 32 shows that nearly half of these clients had completed the program by December 31, 2013. On that date, the program had 157 active participants, constituting 52% of all clients accepted into the program since April 8.
Exhibit 31 MSR Monthly Client Volume
Exhibit 32 MSR Completion Status
April 8, 2013 – December 31, 2013
As of December 31, 2013 N = 303
44 41 37 35
33
32 29
28 24 Apr
44
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
48% Completed (146)
52% Active (157)