First of all-- thx tons to everyone who came out last Thursday to
my little forum at Clinton Town Hall to see if there might be interest here in our town
to emulate the success of www.RhinebeckatHome.org!...
RhinebeckatHome.org Pres. Nina Lynch was our speaker; thx also
to our county's Office for the Aging Commissioner Mary Kay Dolan
for joining us; new Clinton@Home co-coordinators Betty Olson and
Meg Hesher-- and Ray and Susan Rivard, Glenda Schwarze, George
and June Sanderson (even my own Mom-- Judy Malstrom-- and...thx
to Assemblywoman Didi Barrett for sending staffer Justin Torres to this too!]
[Betty Olson can be reached at 889-4836 or bettyolsonhomes@aol.com;
Meg Hesher can be reached at 266-4270-- contact them if you are a
senior citizen here in the Town of Clinton or know one who's interested!]
I've asked our Town Clerk Carol Mackin to reserve Thurs. June 27th 5:30 pm
at Town Hall (1215 Centre Road in Schultzville: 12572) for our
next meeting-- hope y'all can make it-- spread the word!...
[Betty Olson has already designed a flyer she'll be distributing at tomorrow's
Office for the Aging picnic at Frances J. Mark Memorial Rec Park: www.co.dutchess.ny.us/CountyGov/Departments/Aging/spotlightsummer13.pdf .
[note-- we now have a list of seniors here in town from our county's Board of
Elections-- call my mother (Judy Malstrom) at 876-2488 to help her go
through list to reach out to local seniors; perhaps this could be done together-- or delegated out?
up to you all]
Recall-- fact from Mary Kay Dolan-- the 2010 census showed that there are
now over 900 seniors in our town (a whopping forty-percent increase
from 633 in 2000)...
One last time-- Rhinebeck senior citizens have www.RhinebeckatHome.org --
it's high time senior citizens in the Town of Clinton had Clinton@Home!
Seven years ago the NYTimes ran this front-page article-- "Aging At
Home: For a Lucky Few, A Dream Come True" (about Beacon Hill Village program in Boston; I started putting word out towards getting folks interested locally in this then):
www.nytimes.com/2006/02/09/garden/09care.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Rhinebeck at Home is part of the national Village to Village
Network-- Town of Clinton should: www.VTVNetwork.org .
Check out these four gems on the great Rhinebeck@Home program, similar ones:
The Hudson Valley News 1/17/13: "Support for Seniors in Rhinebeck in
the Works" by Rev. Luis Perez issuu.com/hudsonvalleynews/docs/112112_hudsonvalleynews
The Observer 1/10/13: "It Takes a Special Village" by Arlene Wege www.rhinebeckathome.org/content.aspx?page_id=5&club_id=870478&item_id=22405
NYTimes 3/12/13: "For Modern Retirees, There's No Place Like Home" by
Keith Schneider www.nytimes.com/2013/03/13/business/retirementspecial/for-modern-retirees-theres-no-place-like-home.html?pagewanted=all
Rhinebeck@Home is a new, locally based, non-profit organization
dedicated to helping our members remain in our own homes and stay
connected within our community as we grow older.
Members share a common concern that we may need assistance, now or in
the future, to maintain a fulfilling life. We are united by the
belief that neighbors helping each other can make that possible.
Rhinebeck@Home will encourage and coordinate the efforts of our
members to give and receive that support.
About Us
Rhinebeck@Home joins over 100 existing "aging in place" villages and
another 122 villages that are in the process of development. We are a
part of the Village to Village Network (VtV), which is a national
peer to peer network to help establish and continuously improve
management of villages, whether in large metropolitan areas, rural
towns or suburban settings. The mission of VtV is to enable
communities to establish and effectively manage aging in community
organizations initiated and inspired by their members.
Villages that are part of VtV are membership-driven, grass-roots
organizations, and are typically run by some staff and many
volunteers. By following in the footsteps of so many established and
emerging villages, we hope to make this process easy and helpful for
all of our community. To learn more about Village to Village - please
visit their website http://www.vtvnetwork.org/, or click here.
Our History
The Town of Rhinebeck Committee on Aging became aware of the "aging
in place" concept in 2007 and joined our neighbors from the greater
Poughkeepsie area in exploring the possibility of creating something
modeled on Boston's Beacon Hill Village. Distance and cost estimates
essentially derailed the concept of one organization in Dutchess.
Hudson Valley Home Matters opened in 2009 serving the City of
Poughkeepsie and six surrounding towns.
Results of the Rhinebeck Committee on Aging's 2011 survey indicated
more than seventy Rhinebeck residents were interested in learning
more about the possibility of an aging in place organization for
Rhinebeck. A nonprofit organization was formed, many meetings and
gatherings of interested persons were held, Northern Dutchess
Hospital offered office space, the Community Foundation of the Hudson
Valley offered fiscal sponsorship, policies were developed, insurance
was obtained, membership criteria was established. We 'Launched" on
Thursday, May 9th with eighty guests at a brunch at the Beekman Arms.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What We Offer
Neighbors Helping Neighbors Stay Independent at Home
*Rhinebeck@Home is dedicated to helping our members remain in their
own homes and stay connected within our community as we grow older
* Members share a common concern that we may need assistance, now or
in the future, to maintain a fulfilling life.
*Rhinebeck@Home will encourage and coordinate the efforts of our
members to give and receive support.
Members help members in some of the following ways:
*Non-Medical transportation
*Providing referrals to other community service organizations
*Frack Offering social activities
*Helping each other do things
*Sharing member recommended service provider referrals
How we will do it:
*The @HomePhone (845-876-4663) will offer one call access to
experienced volunteer coordinators.
*Volunteer coordinators will assist members in finding the services they need.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
For Modern Retirees, There's No Place Like Home
3/12/2013
Keith Schneider writes for the New York Times about nonprofit service
organizations (like Rhinebeck at Home) that provide rides, do errands
and repairs, and facilitate social events and interaction among their
dues-paying members. Builders, healthcare grups, technology gurus and
even community planning boards, recognizing this trend, are taking
action to facilitate the ability of people to live independently in
their own homes as they age. Read >>
Read article here:
The Changing Lives of Women: Boomer Housemates Have More Fun 5/23/2013 As part of the NPR series on the Changing Lives of Women, NPR's Julie Rovner looks at the long-term care conundrum. Group houses are becoming popular among some single baby boomers -- people born between 1948 and 1964 -- and not just for financial reasons. More than 1 in every 3 baby boomers is unmarried, and those unmarried boomers are disproportionately women. Who will take care of all these people when they're too old to care for themselves? Already, there's a small but apparently growing movement of boomer women forming group houses with their single peers. Read >> Read the full story here:
Support for Seniors in Rhinebeck in the Works 1/17/2013 The Hudson Valley News reports on Rhinebeck@Home in an article written by Luis Perez. The article can be viewed at this website:
It Takes a Special Village 1/10/2013 The Observer's Arlene Wege interviews officers of Rhinebeck@Home and highlights the history and goals of this all-volunteeer organization, whose purpose is to implement social support programs and coordinate access to affordable, reliable services such as transportation, in-home services, and opportunities to attend cultural events. Read >>
It takes a special village - and Rhinebeck @Home has itJanuary 10, 2013 By Arlene Wege
Retiring safe at home is the goal of this Rhinebeck organization.
A whole new village is blossoming within Rhinebeck.
Rhinebeck@Home (www.rhinebeckathome.org) is being welcomed by those of retirement age and their families who are planning for a safe and pleasant future they can enjoy in their own homes. As part of an established international network known as Village to Village (www.vtvnetwork.org), their goal is to implement social support programs and coordinate access to affordable, reliable services such as transportation, in-home services, and opportunities to attend cultural events. The key to achieving this is creating a cooperative arrangement that fosters mutual support for all of the members through enabling information-sharing, communication, and interaction.
"I am committed to make this happen," said Nina Lynch, president of the Rhinebeck@Home board of directors. "I worked at the Dutchess County Office for the Aging, so I have maybe more than the average person's awareness of the kinds of issues that come up for families."
When a group started in Poughkeepsie - Hudson Valley Home Matters - Lynch and others went to some of their beginning meetings and thought it was ideal for the Town of Rhinebeck also. "We invited folks from their organizing group to a public meeting," Lynch said.
Surveys were taken in Rhinebeck in 2005 and 2009 about the "aging in place" concept to learn if people found that interesting, and more than 75 people responded positively.
Linda Stanley serves as the group's Treasurer. She and her husband have lived in Rhinebeck since 1993 and been very involved with such area landmarks as Wilderstein and the Rhinebeck Farmers' Market.
"We went to early meetings for RAH, having read about the Aging in Place concept in the New York Times for years. We both think it's a really great idea, and we would like to be involved. It seems to be happening. I am very encouraged," Stanley said.
Ellen Hubbard is the group's secretary and she has lived in Rhinebeck since she was 12 years old. "I taught elementary school in Rhinebeck for 30 years. I'm retired now, and I was able to assist another retired teacher who had no immediate family living nearby. So many families are scattered around the country, even around the globe. You could hire people to help, but they might not be connected to the community," she said.
Monthly membership get-togethers are organized to discuss RAH operations and future. In December, approximately 30 members attended a festive "Dessert Swap" at the Church of the Messiah parish hall, with representatives of the Rhinebeck Bank presenting hats, keychains, a gift basket for raffle, and mostly support.
Frank Koechlein, the bank's senior vice president of marketing, explained the bank's involvement.
"Rhinebeck Bank works with many local non-profit organizations. Rhinebeck@Home, is an organization that came to our attention and we wanted to help them with their holiday event, by contributing some promotional items and to help them design the event poster and invitation. We believe that as we help our community prosper, we prosper as well," he said.
The big news at the December meeting was the announcement that $5,000 had been received from the Frost Memorial Fund (a private foundation that awards grants to non-profit organizations, with particular attention to charities in the Village and Town of Rhinebeck) and that a 501(c)(3) application is being prepared to enable future fundraising. Members have been especially appreciative of the support and guidance of the Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley (www.cfhvny.org), through which they are now able to accept tax-deductible donations.
Although members pay an annual fee of $120, additional funding is necessary for expenses such as liability insurance, 501(c)(3) filing, marketing, and general office maintenance. Their office space is located in the Center for Healthy Aging at 6511 Springbrook Ave., where Dr. Jody Friedman and social worker Allison Gould have also been extremely supportive.
The next Rhinebeck@Home meeting will be a lunch on Thurs., Jan. 10 at the Church of the Messiah parish hall. Regular monthly get-together meetings are scheduled for the second Thursday of each month.
Are you a graduating high school senior who lives in Rhinebeck or Clinton-- or know one?...
You still have until this Thursday midnight (June 20nd) to email me at joeltyner@earthlink.net an essay of 500 words or less on what you would do if you were in my shoes-- as a county legislator representing Rhinebeck and Clinton!...(this is my tenth annual year doing this; thx to the folks at Rhinebeck High School-- in particular Principal Edwin Davenport and Dr. Joseph Phelan for allowing me to part of commencement exercises there for the past decade now)...
[winning essay contest winner(s) get $100 savings bond(s) and opportunity to share ideas on my WVKR 91.3 FM Friday 5-6 pm and WHVW 950 AM Saturday 8-11 am radio shows]
Note-- essays can also be sent/dropped off at the Dutchess County Legislature offices on the sixth floor of our County Office Building at 22 Market Street in Poughkeepsie (12601)-- and/or sent/dropped off at my home at 324 Browns Pond Road, Staatsburg (12580)-- in the town of Clinton (as long as this happens by midnight this coming Thurs.!)......(they can also be dropped off at the Rhinebeck High School's main offices as well)...
FYI...
Joel
845-453-2105/876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net
[Question: Did you just get a robocall paid for by GOP attacking me for my vote Monday night against $1.2 million for design of new criminal justice facility?...Email countyexec@dutchessny.gov and countylegislators@dutchessny.gov-- challenge Molinaro and his GOP cronies in our County Legislature to dare show their faces at my July 1st Rhinebeck Town Hall forum/debate that night at 5:30 pm-- to defend their vote and their tactics!...Joel (453-2105)]
To: countyexec@dutchessny.gov, countylegislators@dutchessny.gov
Subject: County Exec Molinaro, Co. Leg. Chairman Rolison, Public Safety Committee Chair Roman, Colleagues-- 7/1 forum...
Date: Jun 12, 2013 5:52 PM
County Executive Molinaro (Marc),
County Legislature Chair Rolison (Rob),
Co. Leg. Public Safety Committee Chair Roman (Ken),
County Legislature Colleagues:
I cordially invite all of you to join me for an open and public
forum on the Dutchess County Jail Monday, July 1st at 5:30 pm at
Rhinebeck Town Hall at 80 East Market Street there.
Robocalls from a Republican committee attacking me are one thing
(apparently they were sent out all over Rhinebeck and Clinton in
my County Legislature district today re: jail issue); being willing
to openly debate and discuss the issues in my district is another.
I humbly suggest that at least one representative of the Republican
party of our county attend this event-- and be ready to openly
debate and discuss the jail issue-- unless the Dutchess GOP has
now decided that sneak-attack robocalls are the preferred mode of
communication.
I eagerly await your response; so do the voters of Rhinebeck and
Clinton-- just besieged by your robocalls.
Please let me know as soon as possible the name of who will be
representing the Republican party at this debate/forum-- thx.
Joel
453-2105
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[IMPORTANT-- BELOW-- IGNORED RECOMMENDATIONS FROM RICCI-GREENE REPORT!]
Wow-- amazing-- frankly, given what happened at this past Thursday's Co. Leg. Public Safety Committee meeting (when there unfortunately was strong bipartisan support for jail expansion), at Monday night's full board mtg. of our County Legislature, every single Dem Co. Leg. (except for Barbara Jeter-Jackson and Steve White-- why?)...voted against the Republicans' $1.2 million bond resolution for design of a new county jail!...
[thx-- Dem Co. Leg.'s Alison MacAvery, Debra Blalock, Francena Amparo, Rich Perkins-- and Conservative Co. Leg. Jim Doxsey!]
Again-- thanks again so so much to all of you who came out to the May 28th Co. Leg. Public Safety Committee meeting to speak up against resolution #2013183-- and tonight as well-- 'tis much appreciated!...
Let's not get it twisted folks-- even with newly revised wording that just happened over last week, GOP/Molinaro still calling for new "criminal justice facility"-- with 90% of $150 million to be spent on cells, essentially-- not housing!...(and yes, EVERY Dem, sadly, voted for this "new" wording Thurs. night-- but nice 180 happened on this tonight!).
Ain't no stoppin' us now party peoples-- email us all at countylegislators@dutchessny.gov too!...
Fact: Last Monday night County Sheriff Butch Anderson and County Undersheriff Kirk Imperati both confirmed with the Democratic Co. Leg. caucus (with several other folks present-- we hold open caucuses) that there are literally 20 teenagers now in our county jail, 45 women in our county jail, 67 state parole violators, and 45 mentally ill-- meaning that the new RicciGreene report (despite pushing jail expansion) is also still echoing last year's Dutchess County Criminal Justice Council recommendations-- on how so much more could and should be done re: pre-trial services, centralized arraignment-- and for the mentally ill, teenagers, women-- re: housing, etc.-- read report for yourself(!): www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20130529/NEWS01/305290022/Vote-could-allow-more-study-county-jail .
[why are those in power in our county government ignoring all these?...because they want a new jail!!!]
"The Dutchess County Criminal Justice Council identified structural and processing reforms that are needed to support the efforts to maximize alternative programming. Evidence of this need has been found through:
------- Waiting lists for treatment beds;
------- Delays in court cases being processed;
------- Delays in forensic assessment, which precedes assignment to treatment;
------- Limited resources for meeting programmatic needs of the inmates;
------- Lack of incentives for defendants/inmates to participate in programming;
------- Gaps in coordination efforts between jail and community treatment agencies.
The Criminal Justice Council report noted these shortcomings can be addressed in the following ways:
------- Pre-arrest diversion programs should be utilized wherever possible.
------- All incarcerated individuals should receive an early assessment of risk and identification of criminogenic needs.
------- The level and nature of pretrial supervision and treatment should be based on and guided by an objective assessment instrument.
------- Incentives should be built-in for expeditious resolution of cases.
------- Targeted interventions should be developed and incentivized to address the criminogenic needs that have been identified.
------- Increased utilization of specialty courts, or at least implementation of strategies with these courts, should take place to address the specific needs of each special needs population
The lack of resources for youth and women could be attended to in the following ways:
-- A separate 12-bed facility for criminal justice involved youth could be used as both a crisis residence and as an alternative to incarceration.
-- A new unit could be created so that women would no longer be housed out so that they can participate in the programs at the Dutchess County Jail.
-- A 12-bed community residential facility for women should be created. The current Transitional House could then become an all-male facility.
-- "Consideration should be given to entry of an earlier plea, where an offender may opt for diversion and targeted services in lieu of going through the full criminal proceedings. Early assessment could be complemented by plea-bargaining at an earlier stage, allowing for a clearer path to tangible incentives. The City of Poughkeepsie Court is currently the only court to conduct assessments at an early stage."
-- "There is a need for a 24-hour, "no refuse" crisis center, particularly for the MH population; a relapse crisis center for the SA population exits, but beds have recently been difficult to find."
-- "Currently, the jail often serves as the housing solution for mentally ill individuals, and the need for supportive, stabilizing housing is recognized as a central need."
......and............
Let's also not forget-- how on May 28th Jail Administrator George Krom blithely yet openly confirmed at that Public Safety Committee meeting how there are 33 folks in our county jail now with bail of $500 or less-- telling us all how this was supposedly not a meaningful or significant number(!)....[note-- update-- now, this evening, he told us there are only 7 in county jail with bail of $500 or less-- but don't forget-- OAR bail loan fund in Tompkins County helps those with bail of $2000 or less]...
Fact: Tompkins County has a United Way agency that has a screening process for those accused of nonviolent misdemeanors to get bail loans (with co-signing from family members)-- saving $400,000/year in county 1/3 Dutchess population: www.OARTompkins.com (recall "October surprise" nasty Dutchess GOP mailing to practically every household in our county on how we Dems wanted to give dangerous criminals "get-out-of-jail-free cards"...yet-- remember-- front-page headlines in all the papers back in early Feb. on how even NYS Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman is sounding a clarion call for serious reform of the bail system here in Dutchess, across NYS)....
Priceless-- click on www.co.dutchess.ny.us/CLStreamingVideoLink.htm to view County Exec Molinaro's stern warnings to all of us at the May 28th Co. Leg. Public Safety Committee meeting-- about how "any attempt to describe this effort as jail expansion or a new jail is dishonest".....meanwhile-- RicciGreene PowerPoint and report itself strongly pushes for new jail (and-- as recently disclosed to us-- the County Executive recently informed both parties in our County Legislature's leadership at a recent meeting that he is still quite dedicated and devoted to the notion of jail expansion-- with the lowest staffing ratio possible for inmates (yet "enhanced services")-- make sense to any of you?...
...also pertinent here.....
Recall long-time former Dutchess County Dept. of Mental Hygiene clinical psychologist Dr. Richard DePass on my WVKR 91.3 FM show this past Friday...and his blistering op-ed Valley Views piece in the Poughkeepsie Journal on privatization has decimated our county's mental health care system?...
Well-- this was on the agenda for tonight's 7 pm Co. Leg. full board mtg.-- feel free to speak up:
"2013160 AMENDING THE 2013 ADOPTED COUNTY BUDGET AS IT PERTAINS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HYGIENE"....recall DePass piece in Pok. Journal here:
p.s. Measure of the times-- at this past Thursday's Public Safety Committee mtg., the GOP majority voted down the Tyner/Blalock resolution merely calling on our county's Criminal Justice Council to co-host a public forum with the County Legislature on what a truly comprehensive and effective re-entry system might look like in our county(!)..(curiously, 2 Dems joined GOP in killing this-- why did this happen?!?)...
2013183 REQUESTING THAT THE DUTCHESS COUNTY CRIMINAL JUSTICE COUNCIL HOLD A FORUM WITH PUBLIC COMMENT ON THE CURRENT RE-ENTRY SYSTEM IN DUTCHESS COUNTY FOR THOSE LEAVING JAIL AND PRISON [four reasons here below]
2. Dutchess Co. doesn't have effective PYHIT programs Albany County has to lower jail overcrowding. www.PYHIT.com [cut recidivism from 68% to 9%, saving Albany Co. taxpayers $14 million/year]
3. Dutchess Co. has yet to fully embrace housing-first program for chronic mentally ill as in Westchester. www.fairfaxcounty.gov/homeless/housing-first.htm -- cut family homelessness in half over 4 years; recent MHADC Exec. Dir. Jackie Brownstein supporter of housing-first: PathwaystoHousing.org !]
4. Dutchess Co. doesn't have fraternity for dads behind bars as in Newark-- cut recidivism-- 65% to 3%.
2. Dutchess Co. doesn't have effective PYHIT programs Albany County has to lower jail overcrowding. www.PYHIT.com [cut recidivism from 68% to 9%, saving Albany Co. taxpayers $14 million/year]
6. Dutchess Co. no longer has any county funding at all for its Youth Bureau's Project Return program.
dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2010/12/new-facts-re-county-budget-speak-out.html
7. Dutchess County no longer has any funding for a Big Brothers Big Sisters program in Poughkeepsie.
Just as many of us suspected/expected all along, real GOP plan is not just to get new $126-million, 500-bed jail constructed asap-- their strategy was to have county's Criminal Justice Council propose ridiculous monstrosity that size-- so plan for four million dollars for pods seems "small" by comparison...
[Fact: At the Oct. 16, 2011 Dutchess County Budget Information Session convened by County Executive Marc Molinaro, he promoted his favored "solution"-- spending $4 million more for 200 jail cell "pods"--
re: jail "pods"-- recall YNN 9/20/11-- "Du. County Jail considers temporary "pods"" by John Wagner:
hudsonvalley.ynn.com/content/all_news/600976/dutchess-county-jail-considers-temporary--pods-/ ]
Memorize-- 3 big reasons why Dutchess County shouldn't waste $4 million for 200 new jail cell "pods":
Fact #1: Peter Young Housing, Industry, and Treatment has cut the recidivism rate for ex-cons in Albany County and other NYS counties PYHIT operates in from 67% to 10%-- saving literally $14 million a year there for Albany County taxpayers alone according to John Jay College of Criminal Justice (see below). www.PYHIT.com
Fact #2: Dutchess County currently does not have a fraternity for dads behind bars similar to what Newark's Mayor Cory Booker recently started there-- an organization for incarcerated fathers that has literally slashed local recidivism rate from 65% to 3% (recall Time magazine article on this 11/29/10). www.huffingtonpost.com/cory-booker/breaking-the-cycle-of-re_b_409782.html
Fact #3: Dutchess County currently does not have a truly comprehensive system of re-entry for folks leaving jail and prison modeled after Brooklyn District Attorney Charlie Hynes' ComAlert program that has cut the recidivism rate there by 50% (and been repeated recognized by the Times in editorial and op-ed pages for this; still working. Recall-- ComAlert Director John Chaney spoke at Holy Light Pentecostal Church in Poughkeepsie in summer of 2011 at one of our Jobs Not Jails meetings and shared numbers-- recall 11/29/07 NYTimes editorial "The Right Way to Handle Former Inmates": www.petitiononline.com/comalert ; www.BrooklynDA.org
[...aside from fact that Dutchess GOP still continue to woefully underfund needed activities and programs for children and youth to keep them out of trouble and out of the criminal justice system to begin with!...(see below-- full list of what's lost/needed)]
Fact: Dutchess County currently does not have a truly effective Pre-Trial Release program along the lines of what the Town of Poughkeepsie and Baldwin County, Alabama have (even recent CJC report recognized T/Pok. for this; called for this to be expanded countywide across Dutchess; Baldwin County program was recently recognized for this by the National Association of Counties). According to the "Crimestat" report I distributed at ENJAN meeting last year, there were only 59 county jail inmates sentenced out of total of 464 inmates boarded in/out. Dutchess County is not effectively diverting low-end probation and parole violators to nonincarcerative settings as the HOPE Project in Hawaii, the High Point project in North Carolina and an experiment in Multnomah County (home to Portland, Oregon) have safely done. Dutchess County currently does not have a fraternity for dads behind bars similar to what Newark's Mayor Cory Booker recently started there-- an organization for incarcerated fathers that has literally slashed the local recidivism rate from 65% to 3%. Dutchess County currently does not have a truly comprehensive system of re-entry for folks leaving jail and prison modeled after Brooklyn District Attorney Charlie Hynes' ComAlert program that has cut the recidivism rate there by 50%.
Fact: Dutchess County currently does not have an effective re-entry program along the lines of what Peter Young Housing, Industry, and Treatment has made happen in Albany County. Dutchess County currently does not have a cost-saving housing-first strategy for the chronically mentally ill homeless alcoholics and drug addicts. Dutchess County currently does not have a cost-saving Job Court program modeled after the model one from Lancaster County/PA. Dutchess County currently does not have a bail loan fund for some accused of nonviolent misdemeanors, as in Tompkins County. Dutchess County currently does not have an effective Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) program here as in Dakota County, Minnesota. Dutchess County is not currently sufficiently funding a program similar to the Youth Empowerment Project in New Orleans.
Poughkeepsie Journal Letters to the Editor: 6/10/13
Jail isn't enough for criminal justice
The following are excerpts of a letter I recently sent to Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinaro.
I want to express my disappointment and concern with the ongoing discussions and proposed actions regarding the Dutchess County criminal justice system and the plan for a new jail.
I am extremely concerned that the focus appears to be purely on bricks and mortar and does not include recommendations for programs and process improvements. I was frankly appalled that the presentations to the legislature focused on only one section of the report and ignored many of the other insightful and key recommendations and questions the RicciGreene Associates analysis identified.
The RicciGreene report identified many programs/processes that could potentially impact the number of inmates requiring housing in high-security space. The RicciGreene report correctly identified a significant number of questions that need to be addressed around these programs, discussing the development of a full continuum of care system.
The bond the county executive is requesting must include an assessment of the total cost of implementing a complete criminal justice system with the necessary assessment programs, transition programs and special programs for women and youth to reduce recidivism, maximize the number of individuals eligible for alternatives to incarceration, and accelerate the assessment process. All of the questions raised in the RicciGreene report on pages 2-4 should be addressed.
I ask that you take action to ensure that Dutchess County’s commitment to a full continuum of care is not just words but supported by a complete plan.
MANASSAS, Va. — CONSERVATIVES should recognize that the entire criminal justice system is another government spending program fraught with the issues that plague all government programs. Criminal justice should be subject to the same level of skepticism and scrutiny that we apply to any other government program.
But it’s not just the excessive and unwise spending that offends conservative values. Prisons, for example, are harmful to prisoners and their families. Reform is therefore also an issue of compassion. The current system often turns out prisoners who are more harmful to society than when they went in, so prison and re-entry reform are issues of public safety as well.
These three principles — public safety, compassion and controlled government spending — lie at the core of conservative philosophy. Politically speaking, conservatives will have more credibility than liberals in addressing prison reform.
The United States now has 5 percent of the world’s population, yet 25 percent of its prisoners. Nearly one in every 33 American adults is in some form of correctional control. When Ronald Reagan was president, the total correctional control rate — everyone in prison or jail or on probation or parole — was less than half that: 1 in every 77 adults.
The prison system now costs states more than $50 billion a year, up from about $9 billion in 1985. It’s the second-fastest growing area of state budgets, trailing only Medicaid. Conservatives should be leading the way by asking tough questions about the expansion in prison spending over the past three decades.
Increased spending has not improved effectiveness. More than 40 percent of ex-convicts return to prison within three years of release; in some states, recidivism rates are closer to 60 percent.
Too many offenders leave prisons unprepared to re-enter society. They don’t get and keep jobs. The solution lies not only inside prisons but also with more effective community supervision systems using new technologies, drug tests and counseling programs. We should also require ex-convicts to either hold a job or perform community service. This approach works to turn offenders from tax burdens into taxpayers who can pay restitution to their victims and are capable of contributing child support.
The good news is that a national conservative movement to reform our criminal justice system, including volunteer pastoral counseling for prisoners and encouraging frequent contacts with family members, has been growing.
This Right on Crime campaign supports constitutionally limited government, individual liberty, personal responsibility and free enterprise. Conservatives known for being tough on crime should now be equally tough on failed, too-expensive criminal programs. They should demand more cost-effective approaches that enhance public safety and the well-being of all Americans.
Some prominent national Republican leaders who have joined this effort include Jeb Bush, Newt Gingrich, the anti-tax activist Grover Norquist, the National Rifle Association leader David Keene and the former attorney general Edwin Meese III.
Right on Crime exemplifies the big-picture conservative approach to this issue. It focuses on community-based programs rather than excessive mandatory minimum sentencing policies and prison expansion. Using free-market and Christian principles, conservatives have an opportunity to put their beliefs into practice as an alternative to government-knows-best programs that are failing prisoners and the society into which they are released.
These principles work. In the past several years, there has been a dramatic shift on crime and punishment policy across the country. It really started in Texas in 2007. The state said no to building eight more prisons and began to shift nonviolent offenders from state prison into alternatives, by strengthening probation and parole supervision and treatment. Texas was able to avert nearly $2 billion in projected corrections spending increases, and its crime rate is declining. At the same time, the state’s parole failures have dropped by 39 percent.
Since then more than a dozen states have made significant changes to their sentencing and corrections laws, including Georgia, South Carolina, Vermont, New Hampshire and Ohio. Much of the focus has been on shortening or even eliminating prison time for the lowest-risk, nonviolent offenders and reinvesting the savings in more effective options.
With strong leadership from conservatives, South Dakota lawmakers passed a reform package in January that is expected to reduce costs by holding nonviolent offenders accountable through parole, probation, drug courts and other cost-effective programs.
By confronting this issue head on, conservatives are showing that our principles lead to practical solutions that make government less costly and more effective. We need to do more of that. Conservatives can show the way by impressing on more of our allies and political leaders that criminal justice reform is part of a conservative agenda.
Richard A. Viguerie is the chairman of ConservativeHQ.com and the author of “Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause.”
Dutchess County spends nearly $7 million every year to house hundreds of inmates in jails outside the county. The Dutchess County Legislature is proposing to "solve" this problem by either expanding the county jail or building an entirely new facility. In my view, there are several steps that the county should take before considering this idea. The current system is broken and cannot be fixed with a larger jail.
The County's Criminal Justice System Needs Assessment Report makes several important recommendations that, if implemented, would dramatically reduce the number of jail cells needed. First, all players need to improve efficiencies at key decision points in the journey from arrest to release so that fewer suspects languish behind bars awaiting arraignment or trials. Better coordination, including a central arraignment court, could reduce or reverse the positive feedback loop between housing out and average length of stay. Second, and more important, the county needs additional alternatives to incarceration: more robust use of electronic monitoring technologies; alternative housing for women and youth; and treatment facilities for those with psychiatric and chemical dependency problems. The Needs Assessment Report notes that 80 percent of inmates have a history of mental illness, drug addiction, or both.
The county's current evidence-based approaches offer important tools for making our criminal justice system more efficient and cost effective. But they alone cannot guarantee real justice. Evidence-based approaches don't ask, for instance, why the United States incarcerates, per capita, a higher percentage of its citizens than any other country in the world, including Russia, North Korea and Iran. Also ignored is the overwhelming evidence that our current system disproportionately targets people of color and low-income communities. According to Michelle Alexander's groundbreaking study, "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness," "no other country in the world imprisons so many of its racial and ethnic minorities. The United States imprisons a larger percentage of its black population than South Africa did at the height of apartheid." From a civil and human rights perspective, she concludes, "we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it."
The main culprit for the rise of mass incarceration is this country's failed drug war. Not only has it placed millions of nonviolent drug offenders behind bars, but it has led the U.S. to criminalize what is essentially a public health issue. Criminalization is more expensive than treatment and does little to address the root causes of drug use, including underlying psychiatric problems. Moreover, once persons are labeled criminals, the system is forever stacked against them: denied the right to food stamps, public housing and educational or job opportunities, too many coming out of jail quickly end up back there, often for minor technical violations. This is a costly cycle - for taxpayers as well as for those trapped in this vicious circle.
The End the New Jim Crow Action Network (ENJAN), a local multiracial organization committed to ending mass incarceration, believes that there are serious injustices in Dutchess County's criminal justice system that must be addressed before any additional cells are constructed. We recommend that Dutchess County implement better strategies for reducing recidivism, invest in alternatives to incarceration, and halt the failed war on nonviolent drug offenders. Diverting illegal drug users to treatment and expanding other proven alternatives to incarceration could quickly eliminate the issue of jail overcrowding. In the end, that's more justice for less money.
A national movement is developing to end mass incarceration. If Dutchess County expands or builds a new and bigger jail, it may face the same expensive and embarrassing situation that has befallen other counties that undertook such projects: empty cells and beds. How is it, after all, that all these other new county jails have space to house "our criminals"?
Dutchess County's criminal justice system has a reputation for using evidence-based tools. We would like to see it develop a reputation for just policies, too.
Jeffrey Schneider is a founding member of End the New Jim Crow Action Network. He is an associate professor of German Studies at Vassar College. To find out more about the network, go to http://www.enjan.org .
[details here on how/why the Project Return program should be funded again at county Youth Bureau]
Recall below info from Dutchess CSEA Pres. Liz Piraino (Lizbeth.Piraino@dfa.state.ny.us):
To: Robert Rolison, Chairman
Dutchess County Legislature
Date: November 23, 2010
The justification given on November 17th for decimating the Youth Services Unit, including the elimination of a Youth Worker as well as the complete elimination of Project Return was because, "In the last ten years, other evidence-based practices have been incorporated in other departments that also serve these high risk youth." (Director of HHSC speaking before the Dutchess County Legislature's Budget and Finance Committee) Less than ten minutes later, the same Cabinet Director attributed the decrease in DSS placement numbers to "?the good work of Youth Bureau staff and the good work of Probation and a lot of contractors."
"Evidence based practices" and "Evidence based programs" are two recent buzz words used in government for those programs that have received millions of dollars in order to study their effectiveness. In the past twenty-five years, YSU has not been permitted to apply for any grants other than those available from OCFS or DSS, so millions have not been spent to see if our programming works. We do, however, have thousands of case records in our files that provide evidence of what kind of "success" our young clients have attained while in our programs.
The cost for CSE Placements (room & board) in the Tentative 2011 DSS budget is $7,200,000, up $384,000. The cost for Institutional Care Placements in the same budget is $17,400,000, up $1,457,000 from 2010. the amount proposed to spend is up $2,300,000 over the total amount expended in 2009, and up $2,6000,000 over the total amount expended in 2008. Together, between school-placed youth and DSS placed youth, the tentative budget is recommending a whopping $21,600,000 to send kids out the community in 2011!
Over the past five years, Project Return has worked with 194 high risk teenagers. Only eight (8) young people were closed due to out of home placements and five (5) of those placements were terms in non-secure detention or rehab ordered by the Youth Treatment Court as sanctions for failing to comply with judicial orders.
Over the same time period, YSU provided counseling, advocacy and skills building for 1376 young people. Only three (3) were closed due to out of home placements. [Please note that these figures do not include nearly three thousand young county residents who received workshop trainings on anti-bullying, bias awareness, anger management and conflict resolution skills.]
During the same November 17th budget hearing, the figure of $240,000 was quoted as the amount it cost to house a youth in jail for one year. This amounts to $657.53 per youth per day. Project Return costs under $24 per youth per day to keep them in their homes and in the community! The counseling services provided to Youth Services Unit clients not involved in Project Return cost less than $8 per youth per day.
[documentation here how saves Albany Co. taxpayers $14 million annually!]
From: Judy Troilo
Attached is a summarized breakdown of our study. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me directly.
Judy Troilo
Executive Director
Peter Young Housing, Industries & Treatment
The Altamont Program, Inc.
518 377 2448 ext 215
http://www.PYHIT.com/
Total gross savings to the state of NY= $13,835,272.00
Breakdown of total gross savings:
TANF 140 @ $39,624.00 Per person $5,547,360.00
SN 96 @ $8,116.00 Per person $779,136.00
CJ 103 @ $45,000.00 Per person $4,635,000.00
SA 172 @ $16,708.00 Per person $2,873,776.00
$13,835,272.00
Total cost to State and Local Government to provide employment services through the Altamont Program, Inc. which resulted in the successful employment placement and maintenance of the participants = $1,127,700 .00
After subtracting the cost per individual for services resulting in successful outcomes the total savings = $12,707,572.00
Breakdown of COST for services provided which resulted in successful outcomes by the Altamont Program:
TANF 140 @ $3,000 Per person $420,000
SN 96 @ $2,000 Per person $192,000
CJ 103 @ $1,500 Per person $154,500
SA 172 @ $2,100 Per person $361,200
Peter Young Housing, Industries & Treatment
Mission Statement: Creating Taxpayers
Our mission consists of the following: To help individuals recover from the disease of alcohol and drug addiction. To help ease the transition from correctional facilities to community living, and assist the individual to confront and overcome the underlying problems that trigger and sustain substance abuse and other self-destructive behaviors. To end the cycle of incarceration and relapse, and assist the individual in successful and constructive reentry into society. In short, to create taxpayers.
We create taxpayers by serving people who are afflicted with chemical dependencies; those who are homeless; and those unprepared to make a successful transition to the world of work and good citizenship, responsibility, and community reintegration.
Summary:
The Altamont Program's Vocational Educational and Employment Services division is the component of Father Peter Young's programs which is responsible for assisting individuals with employment placement and job retention services. Historically The Altamont Program's Client base is considered a 'Hard to Serve', chronically unemployed population. The Majority of theses individuals have profound barriers as a result of years of substance abuse, incarceration and chronic unemployment. Many of these individuals have multiple barriers and many secondary issues which have prevented successful transition back into the work force. The Altamont Program considers and assists the 'entire' person. The Altamont Program has successfully served thousands of individuals across the state and enabled many to successfully reintegrate back into society. Father Young's aftercare network, referred to as the "Glidepath To Recovery," effectively addresses the obstacles to a successful recovery by providing guidance in the way of professional treatment, a safe place to stay, and a meaningful job.
Purpose of Analysis:
The purposes of this analysis was to identify the cost savings to the State of New York by way of PYHIT Employment services' creating tax payers.
About the Data:
The data sets used for this analysis were extracted from Altamont Program Employment program contract and non contract data spread sheets covering the period of 8/1/09-7/31/10. The complete spread sheets are used for tracking purposes of all individuals served during a given period. They are specifically drawn from data charts of participation and outcomes defined as: VESID, Albany County Department of Social Services SafetyNET Individuals and TANF (including Transitional Jobs and GREEN Jobs), Rensselaer County Task Force, Honor Court and Parole direct referrals, Office of Temporary Disability Assistance Funded programs; FSET (Food Stamp), WSP (Wage Subsidy Program) and WTW/HIV (Welfare to Work, HIV). All Data extracted is considered successful outcomes. Successful outcomes is defined as: hard to serve individuals placed in meaningful employment with offered benefits and monitored for at least 90 days to confirm retention.
About the Process:
Four (4) major categories were defined which identify the clear and known barriers to employment of the hard to serve population (the PYHIT population). For this purpose the meaning of clear and known is- the individuals were referred directly from an entity identifying them us such (i.e., ACDSS TANF program, NYS parole, etc.) or they met a criteria of a program which requires proof of barriers (i.e. VESID and/or NYSID for substance abuse disability).
Only successful outcomes were extracted from the complete Altamont Program, Employment Services' data base and categorized appropriately. It is important to note approximately 20% are included in more then one category as the original data dictates more then one clear and known major barrier as defined.
The cost to the State of New York per individual (or TANF family) was approximated by obtaining hard costs from the respective state or local government agencies either via Web search or direct contact with agency representative. These numbers represent the cost, to New York State, eliminated per individual in each category on or before 90 days of employment retention has been met.
List of per Individual cost per Category:
Substance Abuse Client
In-Patient Treatment-$4,426
Out-Patient Treatment-$5,580
Supportive Living-$5,400
Food Stamps-$978
Transportation-$324
Total Cost per Individual = $16,708.00
TANF recipient
(Average case size of 3 member family)
Cash Grant (housing)-$8,640
Food Stamps-$5,880
Child Care-$18,720
Medicaid-$6.060
Transportation-$324
Total Cost per recipient= $39,624.00
SAFETY NET recipient
Cash Grant (housing)-$ 3,852
Food Stamps-$ 1,920
Medicaid-$ 2,020 (without SA treatment)
Transportation-$324
Total Cost per recipient= $8,116.00
Criminal Justice Client
Incarceration= $45,000
Total Cost per inmate= $45,000.00
4. Finally, the total amount of individual successes in each given category was multiplied by the approximated per individual cost provided for each categories.
The Results:
Approximately 409 individuals served by the Altamont Program's Employment department during the period 8/1/09-7/31/10 were successfully placed in employment and retained their job. A total of 511 successes were noted (approximately 98 in two (2) or more categories).
Breakdown of Success:
TANF 140 @ $39,624.00 Per person $5,547,360.00
SN 96 @ $8,116.00 Per person $779,136.00
CJ 103 @ $45,000.00 Per person $4,635,000.00
SA 172 @ $16,708.00 Per person $2,873,776.00
$13,835,272.00 actual
Total savings to the State of New York= $13,835,272.00 *
* Based on hard data. original data source is maintained by Judy Troilo of the Altamont Program. Data sets are available through: P.G. Young, J. Gentile or J. Troilo
Additional savings not reflected in Data analysis:
C. Matthews (2007) explains The daily cost for housing an inmate in a local jail ranges from $291 in New York City to more than $100 for counties outside the city, according to the Association of Counties. Counties and New York City house hundreds of inmates awaiting transfer to state prisons, representing a total of $38 million in annual expenses for counties, the group said.
C. Matthews, (July 26, 2007) NY: Inmates can get health benefits when released., The Real Cost of Prison Weblog.
15 PROGRAMS DUTCHESS COUNTY DOESN'T HAVE THAT COULD SLASH JAIL OVERCROWDING:
1. Dutchess County currently does not have a truly effective Pre-Trial Release program along the lines of what Baldwin County, Alabama has (recently recognized for this by the National Association of Counties). According to the "Crimestat" report I distributed at a recent ENJAN meeting, there are now only 59 current county jail inmates sentenced out of total of 464 inmates boarded in/out. Baldwin County's Pre-Trial Release program "enrolls qualified offenders who can not make bond or bail, allowing them to be responsible citizens while awaiting their court dates. These offenders are strictly monitored and supervised on a weekly basis. These offenders pay a small monthly fee to participate in the program. " As Acting Public Defender Tom Angell pointed out last July 1st, over 70% of those in our county jail at $130 a day haven't even gone to trial yet-- a higher number than in many other county jails. According to Angell in July 2011, "the length of stay of nonviolent felonies has increased by 46% over the last 12 months, but arrests have gone down 13% from 12 months ago, violent felony arrests have decreased 25%, and drug felony arrests have gone down 27%-- yet our county jail population has increased by approximately 5% over the past year. We should have seen a corresponding decrease in our county jail population." Dutchess County also needs a so-called "rocket docket" here similar to what NYC has: speed up processing of hundreds now languishing in jail who haven't even gone to trial.
2. Dutchess County is not effectively diverting low-end probation and parole violators to nonincarcerative settings as the HOPE Project in Hawaii, the High Point project in North Carolina and an experiment in Multnomah County (home to Portland, Oregon) have safely done-- "All these model programs view jail and prison sentences as a last option rather than a default, and swift responses to violations are considered more important than harsh ones. For reformers, it is a rare breath of fresh air." (as reported on in July 5, 2010 cover article in The Nation by Sasha Abramsky-- "Is This The End of War on Crime?").
3. Dutchess County currently does not have a fraternity for dads behind bars similar to what Newark's Mayor Cory Booker recently started there-- an organization for incarcerated fathers that has literally slashed the local recidivism rate from 65% to 3% (recall Time magazine article on this 11/29/10; CNN report too).
4. Dutchess County currently does not have a truly comprehensive system of re-entry for folks leaving jail and prison modeled after Brooklyn District Attorney Charlie Hynes' ComAlert program that has cut the recidivism rate there by 50% (and been repeated recognized by the Times in editorial and op-ed pages for this; still working. Recall-- ComAlert Director John Chaney spoke at Holy Light Pentecostal Church in Poughkeepsie in summer of 2011 at one of our Jobs Not Jails meetings and shared numbers-- recall 11/29/07 NYTimes editorial "The Right Way to Handle Former Inmates":
5. Dutchess County currently does not have an effective re-entry program along the lines of what Peter Young Housing, Industry, and Treatment has made happen in Albany County-- saving literally $14 million a year there for local taxpayers and slashing the recidivism rate for ex-cons from 67% to 10%, according to the John Jay School of Criminal Justice (scroll down for letter going into detail on this).
6. Dutchess County currently does not have a cost-saving housing-first strategy for the chronically mentally ill homeless alcoholics and drug addicts who have been cycling in and out of our jail here in Dutchess, as former Mental Health America of Dutchess County Executive Director Jacki Brownstein long advocated, and as has been successfully implemented in Westchester (cutting homeless population in half there according to NYTimes), much of NYC, Chattanooga, and San Francisco.
7. Dutchess County currently does not have a cost-saving Job Court program modeled after the model one from Lancaster County/PA'profiled a few years ago by National Public Radio (to cut recidivism).
8. Dutchess County currently does not have a bail loan fund for some accused of nonviolent misdemeanors, as in Tompkins County. Typically there are a bit over ten folks in our county jail with bail of $2000 or less. Tompkins County, with one-third population of Dutchess, saves over $400,000 a year for their county taxpayers with United Way-funded bail loan fund there for some accused of nonviolent misdemeanors.
9. Dutchess County currently does not have an effective Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) program here as in Dakota County, Minnesota. Dakota County sought to reform the juvenile justice system by using detention placements only for juveniles who pose a risk to public safety or are likely to fail to appear in court. In doing so, the JDAI also intended to eliminate racial disparities in youth served in county Corrections. A broad collaboration of stakeholders for Dakota County juvenile justice worked together to define the issues, develop a Risk Assessment Instrument (RAI) to guide decisions on secure detention of youth, and create a data system to inform policies as juveniles move into and through the Corrections system. The automated RAI and JDAI were implemented in May of 2008. Juvenile detention intakes fell 78% from a prior three-year average of 533 annually down to 114 in 2011. The average daily population in the Juvenile Service Center dropped 56% for all Dakota County youth and 47% for Dakota County youth of color, representing participation in detention and a range of correctional treatment programs.
10. Dutchess County is not currently sufficiently funding a program similar to the Youth Empowerment Project in New Orleans-- reported on NPR July 30th to cut 70% recidivism rate there down to 7%.
11. Dutchess County completely eliminated our Youth Bureau's Project Return program in December 2010-- even though from 2005-2010, Project Return worked with 194 high risk teenagers; only eight young people were closed due to out of home placements; over the same time period, Project Return provided counseling, advocacy and skills building for 1376 young people. Only three (3) were closed due to out of home placements-- not including almost 3000 young county residents who received workshop trainings on anti-bullying, bias awareness, anger management and conflict resolution skills.
[scroll down a bit to see Dec. 2012 memo from Dutchess Co. CSEA Pres. Liz Piraino re: Project Return]
12. Dutchess County's GOP leadership can find no more funding to keep the Big Brothers Big Sisters program for children of the incarcerated alive- even though Big Brothers Big Sisters used to provide "one-on-one mentorship for children up to age 17, affecting 102 mentors and children-- mostly from low-income, single-parent households; about half of the children participating in the program were from the City of Poughkeepsie (recall July 11th Poughkeepsie Journal article on this).
[ http://www.BBBS.org/ ]
13. Dutchess County no longer has full funding for these two programs that could cut slash overcrowding:
-- Restore BOCES job/transitional staff position in jail (eliminated in 2010 by Co. Leg. GOP majority)
-- Restore Mediation Center of Du. Co. (juvenile delinquency prevention for troubled teens) cut by GOP.
[youth in 245 different families served in 2009 in community-- not $240,000/year each for incarceration]
14. Dutchess County should fully restore county $ for these five programs massively cut by GOP in 2010: Cornell/4-H, Youth Mentoring/Job Training/Placement at Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce, Dutchess County Arts Council, Mill Street Loft, and Literacy Connections-- all four of these local institutions perform an incredibly valuable service to the community keeping youth on right track.
[recall, too-- the City of Poughkeepsie Public School District has gone to half-day kindergarten, Smith Elementary School has shut its doors (along with Hyde Park Elementary and LaGrange Elementary)-- and the power structure, seemingly, can find no more money to keep funding]
15. Dutchess County should fully embrace all the cost-saving, pro-active, preventive recommendations put forth by the national and statewide Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Coalition (recall-- even Sheriff Butch Anderson and DA Bill Grady have long been charter members of this organization that calls for serious, pro-active, preventive, cost-saving investments in pre-K, afterschool activities, and community-based programs for low-risk to medium-risk youth prone to juvenile delinquency; see ).
[see ; former Tompkins Co. Leg. Chair Tim Joseph shared news with me five years ago about this coalition; Joseph led successful opposition there to jail expansion for years]
Dutchess County should implement all of the recommendations from http://www.JusticePolicy.org/ .
[also-- I've contacted Mike Thompson, director of the New York-based Council of State Government's Justice Center (see -- quoted in July 5th The Nation piece cited above; copied below)-- he seems quite interested in pulling together with us to organize a forum soon re: common-sense, cost-saving alternatives to jail expansion locally; details to come]
[below-- article on all this from recent front page of Northern Dutchess News/Southern Dutchess News]
"Protestors: County Jail Expansion A Waste of Money"
by Rich Flaherty
POUGHKEEPSIE-- About a dozen people held an informational protest last Monday in front of the Dutchess County Office Building in Poughkeepsie, against any further expansion of the overcrowded county jail.
One of the organizers of the demonstration was Dutchess County Legislator Joel Tyner (D-Clinton/Rhinebeck), who lamented the limited amount of county funds fo non-profit organizations for this year, especially with the recent closing of Big Brothers Big Sisters. He's also concerned that many of his colleagues may be in favor of a future vote to commit money for new jail cell space.
"Big Brothers Big Sisters, a very valuable nonprofit that was really doing really wonderful work. Pro-active in saving tax dollars to keep at-risk kids from being mixed up in the criminal justice system," Tyner said. "They shut down."
He described how the county didn't have enough money to help fund Big Brothers Big Sisters, prevent a tuition increase at the community college, but he said there may be support to construct new jail cells.
"But, lo and behold, they are still bent, driven and obsessed on wasting tens of millions of our county tax dollars on jail expansion that we don't need," said Tyner.
Larry Andreassen said the closing of Big Brothers Big Sisters was a critical blow to a pro-active approach to keep young people out of the criminal justice system.
"It prevents the mentoring chip that kids need to keep them out of jail," said Andreassen. "Once they get into jail, then it's very expensive. This is money well spent, money up front. It's preventive care, as opposed to going through the (justice) system." He added, "This is regressive, this is not progressive."
Dutchess Community College student Jared Keasbey said if the county has enough money to spend at the county jail, then officials could direct some of it to the community college.
"With tens of millions of dollars being used for jail expansion, I don't see why the county can't throw a little bit more money toward the community college." Keasbey added, "I don't know why we can't use a little bit of that money towards expanding our education, rather than our jail."
Tyner said other counties and communities have reduced jail overcrowding with programs similar to Big Brothers Big Sisters.
He said other jurisdictions have expanded alternative to incarceration programs for non-violent offenders and developed jail in-house counseling, mentoring, treatment and education programs to reduce recidivism...
[note-- you're all cordially invited to join yours truly for a very special teach-in/forum on all the things Dutchess County
could and should be doing to avoid jail expansion-- this Saturday June 8th at 11 am at Holy Light Pentecostal Church
at 33 South Clover Street in Poughkeepsie!...(thx tons to City of Poughkeepsie Fifth Ward Councilwoman Ann Perry and
Bishop Debra Gause for working with us on this)....(understood if many of you are going to Albany for education rally!)]
Do you believe, as I do, that these seven rights below are fundamental and just plain common sense?...
1. Right to have clean drinking water and not be lied to by someone trying to sell you contaminated land
2. Right to make sure our county's re-entry system comprehensive: save tax dollars, stop jail expansion
3. Right to collectively bargain at workplace (Monroe Town Board passed resolution; we should too)
4. Right to have proceeds from sale of county Materials Recovery Facility be used to increase recycling
5. Right to have Dutchess County follow examples of SolarizeMadison.com and SolarizeNewYork.org
6. Right to government of, for, and by the people-- not special interests (pass Fair Elections Act in NYS!)
7. Right to make sure state legislators aren't passing laws in dead of night (pass Vampire Voting Act!)
Well guess what folks-- ALL seven of these issues/ideas/resolutions from yours truly will actually be on the agenda for today's-- Thursday's-- Committee Day for our County Legislature-- starting at 4:30 pm!...
[this is a rare event-- hasn't happened before; kudos to Gipson/Barrett et. al. for issues #6, #7]
[note-- Solarize Madison Program Coordinator Jan Myers is literally driving for several hours today all the way from
Madison/Tompkins county area to come down here to Dutchess to speak to us-- let's make this idea happen!]
So-- please-- if you care about ANY of these issues-- please-- come out and speak up on their behalf!...
....on sixth floor of our County Office Building at 22 Market Street in Poughkeepsie: Legisl. Chambers...
[not sure if current uber-GOP Co. Leg. majority will allow any of these to even get out of various committees this week-- but we have a much better chance of holding the current Republican majority accountable if they shoot these down-- if you all come out to speak for them-- then media much more likely to report GOP killing them (if they do this)...so-- again: can't emphasize enough...come out today!]
Crucial-- can't make it out to join us today?...email all 25 of us-- at countylegislators@dutchessny.gov!...
[pass it on; scroll down a bit for much much more detail re: Co. Leg. Commitee Day-- fwd along]
Joel
845-453-2105/876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.knet
[...and yes-- as always-- letters to editor very much needed on this; not sure if media will report on this!...]
p.s. Note-- of course I'm also making pitch here for you all to come out to speak up at this today's Public Safety Committee meeting against GOP drive to force taxpayers of our county to fork over $1.2 million for design of new jail (even GOP County Comptroller Jim Coughlan and GOP County Sheriff Butch Anderson have told us this is too much!)...kudos again to everyone from www.ENJAN.org who came out last Tuesday evening to speak out-- it's resolution #2013182 on this website:
[let's not get it twisted folks-- even with newly revised wording that just happened over last 48 hours, GOP/Molinaro still calling for new "criminal justice facility"-- with 90% of $150 million to be spent on cells, essentially-- not housing!]
Recall-- on Monday night County Sheriff Butch Anderson and County
Undersheriff Kirk Imperati both confirmed with the Democratic Co. Leg.
caucus (with several other folks present-- we hold open caucuses) that
there are literally 20 teenagers now in our county jail, 45 women in our
county jail, 67 state parole violators, and 45 mentally ill-- meaning
that the new RicciGreene report (despite pushing jail expansion) is also
still echoing last year's Dutchess County Criminal Justice Council
recommendations-- on how so much more could and should be done re:
pre-trial services, centralized arraignment-- and for the mentally ill,
teenagers, women-- re: housing, etc.-- read report for yourself(!):
And
let's not forget-- how just last Tues. Jail Administrator George Krom blithely yet
openly confirmed at that Public Safety Committee meeting how there are 33 folks in our county jail now with bail
of $500 or less-- telling us all how this was supposedly not a
meaningful or significant number(!)....curious....as Tompkins County has
a United Way agency that has a screening process for those accused of
nonviolent misdemeanors to get bail loans (with co-signing from family
members)-- saving $400,000/year in county 1/3 Dutchess population:
www.OARTompkins.com
(recall "October surprise" nasty Dutchess GOP mailing to practically
every household in our county on how we Dems wanted to give dangerous
criminals "get-out-of-jail-free cards"...yet-- remember-- front-page
headlines in all the papers back in early Feb. on how even NYS Chief
Judge Jonathan Lippman is sounding a clarion call for serious reform of
the bail system here in Dutchess, across NYS)....wake up, get involved
folks-- we CAN stop jail expansion(!):
[priceless-- click on www.co.dutchess.ny.us/CLStreamingVideoLink.htm to view County Exec Molinaro's stern warnings to all of us at last Tuesday's Co. Leg. Public Safety Committee meeting-- about how "any attempt to describe this effort as jail expansion or a new jail is dishonest".....meanwhile-- RicciGreene PowerPoint and report itself strongly pushes for new jail (and-- as recently disclosed to us-- the County Executive recently informed both parties in our County Legislature's leadership at a recent meeting that he is still quite dedicated and devoted to the notion of jail expansion-- with the lowest staffing ratio possible for inmates (yet "enhanced services")-- make sense to any of you?]
p.p.s. Recall long-time former Dutchess County Dept. of Mental Hygiene clinical psychologist Dr. Richard DePass on my WVKR 91.3 FM show this past Friday?...recall his blistering op-ed Valley Views piece in the Poughkeepsie Journal on privatization has decimated our county's mental health care system?...well-- this today's 4:15 pm Family and Human Services Committee meeting is a most opportune time to raise hell and ask questions-- check it out-- on agenda for Commitee Day Thurs.:
"2013160 AMENDING THE 2013 ADOPTED COUNTY BUDGET AS IT PERTAINS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HYGIENE"....recall DePass piece in Pok. Journal here: wake up folks!
[INVITED TO BE PRESENT THURS.: Dutchess County Department of Mental Hygiene representative!]
[next on our agenda-- getting list of recently retired county Dept. of Mental Hygiene folks-- help us if you can, people!]
p.p.p.s. One more thing to come out and raise a ruckus about and point out cost-saving alternatives-- at this Thursday's 4:45 pm Environmental Committee meeting-- resolution "2013176 AUTHORIZING PAYMENT OF 2012 UNENCUMBERED INVOICE FROM 2013 FUNDS FOR PAYMENT OF 2012 DUTCHESS COUNTY RESOURCE RECOVERY AGENCY NET SERVICE FEE"...more down drain...
[solution: cost-saving move to zero waste; GOP don't care tho www.petitiononline.com/zeroyes ]
2013168 REQUESTING THAT DUTCHESS COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT USE PROCEEDS FROM SALE OF THE DUTCHESS COUNTY MATERIALS RECOVERY FACILITY TO INCENTIVIZE RECYCLING AND COMPOSTING IN DUTCHESS COUNTY MUNICIPALITIES, SCHOOLS, AND PRIVATE SECTOR (GOP already scared-- issuing press releases)
2013178 REQUESTING THAT DUTCHESS COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT EVALUATE THE COST AND FEASIBILITY OF SOLARIZEDUTCHESS.COM PROGRAM FOR OUR COUNTY, SIMILAR TO MADISON, GENESEE, AND TOMPKINS COUNTIES
5:15 PM Government Services & Administration Committee Meeting
2013153 A LOCAL LAW MANDATING PRIVATE WELL PRIVATE WELL TESTING TO BE PERFORMED WHEN PROPERTIES CHANGE HANDS IN DUTCHESS COUNTY (FOR DISCUSSION ONLY)
[Note-- this is the EXACT same wording as the bipartisan Marge Horton/Sandy Goldberg legislation from the last decade-- including what we passed in 2009; even the Poughkeepsie Journal itself has repeatedly editorialized for county-level well-testing legislation to be passed here in Dutchess (for when properties change hands-- as in Fishkill, East Fishkill, Wappinger, Rockland, Westchester, and New Jersey)...recall: www.petitiononline.com/cleanh20> ;
2013183 REQUESTING THAT THE DUTCHESS COUNTY CRIMINAL JUSTICE COUNCIL HOLD A FORUM WITH PUBLIC COMMENT ON THE CURRENT RE-ENTRY SYSTEM IN DUTCHESS COUNTY FOR THOSE LEAVING JAIL AND PRISON (if you haven't yet see http://www.ENJAN.org ; join 120 here:
[1. Dutchess Co. doesn't have effective and comprehensive ComAlert re-entry program Brooklyn has.www.petitiononline.com/comalert www.BrooklynDA.org [cut recidivism rate in half there]
2. Dutchess Co. doesn't have effective PYHIT programs Albany County has to lower jail overcrowding.
www.PYHIT.com [cut recidivism from 68% to 9%, saving Albany Co. taxpayers $14 million/year]
3. Dutchess Co. doesn't have effective housing-first program for chronic mentally ill as in Westchester. www.fairfaxcounty.gov/homeless/housing-first.htm [cut family homelessness in half over 4 years; recent MHADC Exec. Dir. Jackie Brownstein strong supporter of housing-first: PathwaystoHousing.org!]
4. Dutchess Co. doesn't have fraternity for dads behind bars as in Newark-- cut recidivism-- 65% to 3%.
Want to read the actual wording of the three environmental resolutions?....
Text here of Solarize Dutchess resolution drafted by yours truly: www.co.dutchess.ny.us/ConCalAtt/2/2013178.pdf ....co-sponsored by Co. Leg.'s Debra Blalock, Barbara Jeter-Jackson, and Alison MacAvery...
Text here of well-testing legislation drafted by yours truly (same wording as Marge Horton/Sandy Goldberg law from several years ago-- now co-sponsored by Co. Leg.'s Jim Doxsey & Steve White: www.co.dutchess.ny.us/ConCalAtt/2/2013153.pdf
Text here of resolution drafted by yours truly to use proceeds from sale of MRF to ramp up recycling-- co-sponsored by Co. Leg.'s Barbara Jeter-Jackson, Alison MacAvery, Debra Blalock, Jim Doxsey, and Steve White: www.co.dutchess.ny.us/ConCalAtt/2/2013168.pdf
Dear County Legislatures,
I am writing in support of the Resolution 2013178 requesting the Dutchess County Planning and Development Department to work with the Dutchess County Department of Finance to evaluate the cost and feasibility of a Solarize Dutchess program for your county similar to Solarize Madison. I have attached a scan of the hard copy of this letter and the sources mentioned therein.
My name is Jan Myers and I have been researching the Solarize model since its creation in 2009 in Portland, Oregon and have since then worked with communities throughout New York State in developing a Solarize or similar program for their community.
I would like to provide some insight into the costs associated with the Solarize Madison program for 2012. In total, our expenses were approximately $3,000 for advertising and marketing expenses. These costs were shared between all partnering agencies and the installer. Depending on your team’s approach, administrative costs will vary. For Madison County’s Solarize Program, I was the volunteer Program Coordinator. The point person, who ensured the overall project tasks and timeline were moving forward as planned. My estimated hours to run the program were about 1,000 hours for a 12 month period, 675 of those hours are documented. Additionally, Jamie Hart, Senior Planner, estimated that her weekly hours for the program were 5-10 hours.
According to the Solarize Guidebook, published by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and sponsored by the Department of Energy’s Sunshot Initiative, expenses are estimated to be less than $6,000 total and approximately 1,000 administrative hours for the program from start to finish.
According to NYSERDA’s Powerclerk site, Dutchess County has had a total of 443 solar PV systems installed at an average price of $7.00/Watt-DC since 2003. As shown in the 2012 Solarize Madison Evaluation report, the installed price per watt through the program reduced the installation costs by $2.10/Watt-DC, roughly 33% savings; resulting in more installed solar in one year than had been achieved in the previous eight years.
In Conclusion, I would like to encourage the Dutchess County Legislature to pass the above mentioned resolution to evaluate the costs and feasibility of a Solarize Dutchess County program. I would like to add, that I have years worth of research from other Solarize programs throughout the United States that I would be delighted to share with your team. The amount of time and taxpayer’s dollar spent on conducting this study would benefit your community more by utilizing those resources to develop a Solarize program for 2014.
Sincerely,
Jan L. Myers, Program Coordinator
Solarize Madison
Myers000@morrisville.edu
Janmy3rs@gmail.com
(cell) 607-244-6880
WHEREAS, the original purpose of the Dutchess County Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) was designed to create revenue for recycling and provide an educational opportunity for the people of Dutchess County, and
WHEREAS, the metal in the ash is a result of the low recycling rates in Dutchess County, and
WHEREAS, the Dutchess County Legislature Voted to Pass the Dutchess County Solid Waste Management Plan (DCSWMP) developed by the Dutchess County Planning Department, and
WHEREAS, the DCSWMP projects the Dutchess County recycling rate to be 59% by 2021, and
WHEREAS, the DCSWMP identifies Recycling Education and Composting as the keys to the expansion of the recycling rate from the present 22% to the projected 59%, and
WHEREAS, the DCSWMP does not provide for or identify funding to help the Dutchess County school Systems, Dutchess County municipalities, or private-sector composting companies that are identified by the Plan as having the responsibility for the providing the education necessary to achieve the participation rate and the infrastructure necessary to process the 38% increased waste diversion rates, and
WHEREAS, the creation of educational programming to every school and the increase in composting capacity by approximately 90,000 tons per year necessary to reach the projected material manage volumes will be a financial hardship to the school system, municipalities and private sector companies that must provide the services and handle the materials, and
WHEREAS, the investment of these funds in recycling education and composting will provide jobs for Dutchess County residents, and therefore be it
RESOLVED that the Dutchess County Legislature strongly urges that the proceeds from the sale of the Materials Recovery Facility and its equipment and the sale of the scrap recovered from the ash be made available in the form or grants to school systems, municipalities, private sector companies and not-for profits for the purpose of providing educational services and composting infrastructure in Dutchess County, and be it further
RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be sent to the Dutchess County Executive, Dutchess County Finance Commissioner, Dutchess County Solid Waste Commissioner, Dutchess County Planning and Development Commissioner, and Dutchess County Public Works Commissioner
Come
out and speak up at this Thursday's (June 6th) 5:15 pm meeting of the
Dutchess County Legislature's Government Services and Administration
Committee-- on the sixth floor of our County Office Building at 22
Market St. in Poughkeepsie-- for the Tyner/Blalock/Doxsey/White resolution to be passed in support of state Senator Terry Gipson's Fair Elections Act! [see http://FairElectionsNY.org/ ]
[important-- call state Senators Ball, Bonacic, Larkin, and Carlucci--
get them to commit to bring the Fair Elections Act to a vote and support
it!...dial them toll-free at 877-255-9417!]
Ordinary New Yorkers should have their voices heard. We should replace
corporate-funded elections with Fair Elections. We need to put elections
back in the hands of ordinary New Yorkers. Politicians should work for
us, not their special interest sponsors.
In the 2012 election cycle, state-level candidates and parties raised more than $108 million.
Just in the last decade, 15 state-level elected officials have been convicted of corruption-related crimes.
Middle and working class New Yorkers can’t compete for their
representatives’ attention in a system that rewards politicians for only
fundraising among the very rich and special interests. In 2012, at
least 71% of contributions to candidates came in gifts of $1,000 or
more, drowning out the voices of everyday New Yorkers and discouraging
diverse candidates from running.
The campaign for Fair
Elections for New York is focused on four key goals, enumerated by
Governor Cuomo in his State of the State Address:
Public
Financing of Elections – establishing a voluntary system to empower
small donors by matching their contributions with public money, similar
to NYC’s successful system.
Lower Contribution Limits – bringing New York State’s sky-high contribution limits down to reasonable levels.
Ending Pay-to-Play – saving public dollars by preventing
contributions and bundling by contractors and lobbyists from influencing
decisions about state business.
Stronger Enforcement and
Transparency – ensuring that our laws are enforced in a fair, effective
and timely manner, and that public matching funds are appropriately
disbursed.
Press inquiries may be directed to Charlie Albanetti, 518.595.9047.
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From: "Jamie E. Hart" (Jamie.Hart@madisoncounty.ny.gov) To: "countylegislators@dutchessny.gov" (countylegislators@dutchessny.gov) Cc: Jan Myers (myers000@morrisville.edu) Subject: Solarize Madison Date: May 3, 2013 12:08 PM Attachments: image003.jpg Solarize Madison Evaluation Final.pdf SolarizeAmbassadorLocations.pdf
All,
Joel Tyner contacted us yesterday and asked if I would share a little about our experience with the Solarize model here in Madison County. Solarize is a volume purchasing program for solar renewable energy systems that was first started in 2009 in Portland, Oregon. In 2011, our department was approached by Jan Myers, a returning student at the Renewable Energy Training Center at Morrisville State College (located in Madison County). She had been following this program and wanted to see if it could be recreated here. As a County on the forefront of using renewable technologies, we were very interested in this program’s ability to help our community members overcome not only the financial hurdles to install solar but the logistical hurdles as well (unfamiliarity with the technology, permitting, incentives and tax rebates, etc) so we partnered with Morrisville State College to launch Solarize Madison, the first program of its kind in New York State.
An RFP was released and sent to installers throughout New York State. The goal of the RFP was to select one or two NABCEP-certified and NYSERDA-eligible installation firms to provide the site assessment, design, equipment procurement, and installation services for enrollees with a single price. Nine proposals were received which provided our selection committee a good amount of qualified contractors in which to choose from.
Last year’s program was a tremendous success. I have attached our 2012 Evaluation Report on the program, but here are a few key points you may find interesting: · Nearly 200 people came out to the Solarize Q&A workshops (Madison County’s population is 73,442) held on the program. As a Planner I have promoted many community programs but have never seen a turnout like we have had for this program. · 29 new systems (for a total of 184.2 kw) were installed with the 2012 program; more than doubling the amount installed in the County in the last 10 years. · At 184.2 kw we did reach the lowest pricing tier and all participants got to take advantage of the lowest price. With the volume purchase price, NYSERDA rebates, and tax credits, most customers saved 75% off the sticker price of these systems. · Madison County is now the cheapest place in New York State in which to install solar. NYSERDA releases a Solar PV Analysis which ranks each New York County by price for completed solar PV install. Madison County was ranked #24 in 2011 (meaning residents in 23 other counties could install a solar system cheaper than they could if they lived in Madison County) but as of 2013, Madison County is now #1, with the lowest price for completed install throughout the whole state. We think this is largely due to our 2012 program which brought down the price significantly through volume purchasing.
Due to the success of last year and the positive community feedback, we have launched a second round of the program this year. This year we are not only offering the community the option to install solar PV but also solar thermal. To date, we have 8 contracts signed for solar thermal and 5 signed for solar PV, and we are still in the first few weeks of launching. It is also interesting to note that other communities in New York State have now launched Solarize programs including Tompkins County and Genesee County.
Ultimately what I think this program demonstrates is that people are interested in this technology but many are confused or overwhelmed on where to start. Solarize bridges that gap – through education and streamlining the process, this program showed people how feasible solar could be and for many that was all it took for them to choose to go solar.
I welcome you to visit our website as well at www.solarizemadison.com. Here you can see our set prices for this year’s program, read testimonials from last year’s program and more.
Jan and I will also be calling into WVKR 91.3 FM today at 5 p.m. to talk more about the program.
Thanks, Jamie
_____________ Jamie Hart Senior Planner Madison County Planning Department PO Box 606, Wampsville, NY 13163 (315) 366-2378 Fax: 315-366-2742 www.madisoncounty.ny.gov/planning/home mc_Calculator-01_r
