For the Media

Avoiding Evictions: How State and Local Policy Can Keep Tenants in Their Homes

Shelterforce

Amid soaring rents and weakening protections for tenants, state and local governments have a critical role to play in preventing evictions. Shelterforce explores promising local initiatives working to keep families safely housed, from right-to-counsel programs for tenants to our housing resource centers in Red Hook and Harlem. “We’re providing wraparound services but in a very person-centered, holistic kind of way,” says Jessica Yager, our Senior Director of Housing Justice Initiatives.

The ‘fairy godmother of housing court’: Meet the advocates troubleshooting the voucher system in Brooklyn Housing Court

amNY

In Brooklyn’s Housing Court, the Eviction Diversion Initiative helps tenants avoid evictions due to administrative errors with their housing subsidies. As the program expands to reach housing courts in seven locations across New York, its Brooklyn office bridges gaps between a patchwork of agencies that often leave tenants struggling to secure stable housing. As Priscila Auffant of our Eviction Diversion Initiative team told amNY, “EDI has kind of been the fairy godmother in housing court.”

Courts, advocates to start new program seeking to blunt Syracuse’s sharp eviction rate

Central Current

A new program in Syracuse will help tenants stay safely housed by preventing evictions and increasing access to legal services and supportive resources. The Eviction Diversion Initiative—first launched in Brooklyn and Suffolk County by the Center for Justice Innovation and New York State Unified Court System—is now expanding to reach tenants in Syracuse, Rochester, Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx. “We help them in what is, for a lot of people, a crisis—a moment of vulnerability,” said Viviana Gordon, Director of Housing Justice Initiatives at the Center.

Rockefeller reforms linked to growth in problem-solving courts, but trend began earlier, report says

Brooklyn Daily Eagle

A new report by the Data Collaborative for Justice and the Center for Justice Innovation found that landmark drug sentencing reforms in New York led to a significant increase in the use of problem-solving courts, with little direct impact on drug arrests and conviction rates. Punitive responses to drug offenses have steeply declined in the more than 15 years since the reforms, but the report also found widening racial disparities in drug-related arrests.

Approach The Bench: Judge Robinson On Community Court

Law360

As presiding judge of the Red Hook Community Justice Center, Judge Devin Robinson works with defendants, attorneys, and our Red Hook team to address the root causes that bring people into court with care and resources. Judge Robinson spoke to Law360 about the “unexpected blessing” of presiding over the Justice Center.

Rockefeller Drug Law reforms drove problem-solving court enrollment, new report finds

Queens Daily Eagle

Enrollment in treatment courts as an alternative to incarceration has drastically increased since New York’s landmark drug sentencing reforms in 2009, according to new research by the Data Collaborative for Justice and the Center for Justice Innovation. While the report found little evidence that the reforms directly fueled the decline in arrests and incarceration, they coincided with a broad shift towards treatment-based responses to drug offenses in courts across New York.

Inside Literary Prize, First Major Book Award Determined by Incarcerated Judges, Announces 2026 Shortlist

People

The Inside Literary Prize—the first major U.S. book award judged by incarcerated people—has announced its 2026 shortlist, which includes five National Book Award-honored titles. Launched in 2023 by Freedom Reads, the Center for Justice Innovation, the National Book Foundation, and bookstore owner Lori Feathers, the Prize celebrates and uplifts the voices of readers in prison. As our CEO Courtney Bryan told People Magazine, the Inside Literary Prize “builds empathy and connection beyond the prison walls.”

Will Mamdani hit his target on gun violence prevention?

Amsterdam News

In neighborhoods hit hardest by gun violence, violence interrupters with New York City’s Crisis Management System have been preventing shootings and retaliations for decades. Now, these groups could get a boost under Mayor Mamdani’s proposed plan to invest in community-driven public safety initiatives. In Amsterdam News, hear from Anthony Rowe—Project Director of our Neighbors in Action program—on the critical role violence interrupters play.

Mobile care van brings services to Brooklyn residents on pretrial supervised release

CBS News

People struggling to access services and meet their court requirements in South Brooklyn can now find support from a mobile care van we launched in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice. “These are individuals who are parents, community members who have a variety of obligations outside of the court system. And we allow them to be able to maintain that," said Director of Community Initiatives Curtis Huggins.

Second chance on wheels: Community Care van in East New York helps residents impacted by justice system

News12

A new community care van brings support and services directly to people impacted by the justice system in hard-to-reach areas of Southeast Brooklyn. A partnership between the Center for Justice Innovation and the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, the initiative works to increase access to justice for people awaiting trial in NYC’s Supervised Release Program.

Mobile overdose response and outreach van launches

News12

Stocked with overdose prevention kits and staffed by peers with lived experience, our Bronx HOPE’s new mobile outreach van brings support directly to people at risk of overdose. The van increases access to resources by meeting people where they’re at, both out in the community and in local police precincts.

Mobile Overdose Response Van Launches in the Bronx

The Riverdale Press

Bronx Community Solutions' new mobile outreach van brings overdose prevention services, life-saving resources, and compassionate support directly to people struggling with substance use across the borough. “What we’re saying is, ‘You matter as a human being,’” Senior Program Manager Magaly Melendez told the Riverdale Press.

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