The Center for Justice Innovation operates Supervised Release programs in Brooklyn and Staten Island.
Supervised Release provides an alternative to pretrial incarceration and bail by ensuring that individuals facing criminal charges attend their court appearances. This is achieved through regular check-ins with dedicated program case managers who provide support and facilitate connections to community-based programs and services, assisting participants in maintaining employment, housing, and family ties.
Since its pilot in 2009, Supervised Release has evolved to become a crucially important piece to safely reducing unnecessary pretrial incarceration. At its core, Supervised Release promotes community safety and participant well-being by limiting the harms of justice system involvement, supporting court attendance, and providing participants with connections to community-based services while their cases are pending. The program also provides judges with the option to mandate programming that can help individuals address employment, mental health, housing, or drug addiction issues.
Supervised Release was expanded under 2020 statewide bail reform to serve individuals charged with any offense; all previous eligibility restrictions for enrollment were removed. The program’s continued growth reflects the impact of bail reform and judges’ confidence that clients in Supervised Release show up for court dates at a very high rate.
Who the Program Serves
Supervised Release serves individuals charged with a crime who might otherwise be detained pretrial or who are deemed at risk of failing to appear in court without the program’s supervision and services. Participants must be ordered by a judge to participate in Supervised Release and agree to abide by the terms of the program.
How It Works
Once a judge orders an individual to Supervised Release, supervision begins immediately, and participants are assessed and assigned to a case manager. The pretrial supervision program’s use of social workers and case managers from a nonprofit agency to provide supervision distinguishes it from those in most other jurisdictions that utilize law enforcement officers in this role. Supervised Release case managers are trained to recognize needs and connect participants to voluntary or mandated services in their communities that can address those needs. At check-ins, case managers remind program participants of upcoming court dates, provide encouragement to follow court orders, discuss any barriers for attending court and program check-ins, and offer referrals for appropriate community-based supportive services. Staff inform the judge, prosecutor, and defense attorney prior to each court date whether the participant has been attending all check-ins and complying with other program requirements.
