Suffolk County Sheriff Vincent DeMarco hosted officials from the New York City Department of Correction and Rikers Island this week.
The group visited the correctional facility in Riverhead to learn more about DeMarco’s correctional programs – in particular, the award-winning Council for Unity and Youth Tier programs, the sheriff’s office said in a press release.
This is the second time that Rikers officials have come to the jail in the past year, DeMarco said. NYC corrections commissioner Joseph Ponte and members of his staff visited Riverhead last September to discuss correctional reforms.
The visit comes at a time of heightened focus on issues related to crime reduction strategies and prisoner rehabilitation, and Ponte’s well-publicized goals to implement changes at Rikers Island to help reduce violence.
According to DeMarco, the goals are intertwined.
“One of the lessons we have learned is that if your focus is reducing inmate violence, you need to have programs in place to combat gang activity,” DeMarco said. “Programs like Council for Unity encourage these youth to drop their colors and many of them continue to stay connected with the Council once they’re released. Ultimately this is what it’s all about. We want to transition these kids back into the community and help them lead more productive lives. The jail is safer, the community is safer, and in the long run the taxpayers benefit because they don’t have to foot the cost of these youth cycling in and out of jail and prison,” the sheriff said.
The NYC corrections commissioner said his agency is pleased to have the opportunity to learn about the “groundbreaking programs” developed in Suffolk.
“We are eager to apply their insights to help reduce violence in our facilities,” Ponte said. “DOC staff has traveled to many jurisdictions in order to absorb best practices in our drive to become a national leader of correctional reform, especially in regard to adolescents and young adults.”
DeMarco implemented Council for Unity at the Suffolk County Jail shortly after he took office in 2006 in an effort to reduce gang violence in the Riverhead jail. It was the first correctional facility to embrace the program, which was developed by Robert DeSena nearly 40 years ago as a method to reduce gang-related crime in New York City schools.
During their visit, the group met with some young inmates, between the ages of 16 and 21, as they participated in a session of Council for Unity inside the jail’s chapel.
“Council for Unity is a proven methodology for diverting youth and adults from gangs, but also in regard to preventing future delinquency. I think the corrections community has now seen the effectiveness of this approach and they want to implement Riverhead’s model program,” DeSena said.
DeMarco said his efforts are in part responsible for “a significant decrease in the county jail population since he first took office.” In 2005, he said, the daily jail population averaged close to 2,000 inmates, and now that figure is less than 1400.
In 2011, Sheriff DeMarco launched the Youth Tier and Youth Reentry Task Force Initiative to improve outcomes for incarcerated youth in the county jails, and the award-winning program has become a national model in the field of corrections.
