The city plans to expand the Justice-Involved Supportive Housing (JISH) program from 120 to 500 apartments as part of the budget. This expansion is part of the commitment made in a 2019 agreement to close Rikers Island. JISH was launched in 2015 to assist New Yorkers with behavioral health needs, who often cycle between shelters, hospitals, and the criminal justice system. Despite challenges in securing adequate funding for JISH, the latest budget introduces an additional $4.8 million, which advocates say will enable the program to meet its goals.
"This, to us, is a smart investment," said Stanley Richards, president and CEO at the Fortune Society, which currently operates JISH housing for 60 people in scattered-site apartments in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens and Manhattan.
"It is an investment we need to make when we talk about reducing our footprint on mass incarceration," he added. "Providing some of our most vulnerable people access to supportive housing and to stop the cycle of incarceration is crucial."
Collection
[
|
...
]