PROJECT GREENLIGHT (NY)

Program Description
In February 2002, the New York State Department of Correctional Services, the New York State Division of Parole, and the Vera Institute of Justice launched a project to test new ways of preparinginmates for release back to the community. Project Greenlight, operating within the Queensboro Correctional Facility in New York City, is geared toward inmates who are two to three months from their release dates.

Inmates come to the program from correctional facilities across the state and spend eight to ten weeks before their release dates developing plans for how they will live, work, and interact with others after they are released. When participants join the program, they meet with their newly assigned case manager (either a corrections counselor or parole officer) and complete a thorough risk and needs assessment tool. Participation in the structured program begins immediately, with classes focused on cognitive skills, job readiness, family reintegration, substance abuse, practical life skills, and establishing connections with agencies in the community that can provide support services upon their release. Inmates who acknowledge that they have a substance abuse problem spend four weeks in daily relapse prevention groups working with a counselor on ways in which they can avoid relapse upon release.

On a daily basis, inmates have an opportunity to meet with representatives of community-based organizations that provide a number of support services they may need upon release. Throughout the program, inmates also work with their case managers on their release plans. This plan, developed in conjunction with the individual's field parole officer, identifies his strengths and needs. A step-by-step plan outlines how he will address those needs and with which community agencies he will work after release. Families are also involved in the process by meeting with project counselors and the soon to be released family member.

Project Greenlight currently serves only male inmates because the Queensboro facility is restricted to men. During the initial phase of the demonstration, the project served 52 inmates at a time, increasing its capacity to 104 during the summer of 2002.

Program Goals
The goal of Project Greenlight is to establish or strengthen inmates' vital connections to their families, community-based service organizations, and positive influences before they are released from the facility, in an effort to improve their chances at successful reintegration.

Networking, Partnering & Collaboration
Project Greenlight is a collaboration among a number of public and private partners. The government partners are two state agencies that work directly with prisoners before and after release, the New York State Department of Correctional Services and the New York State Division of Parole. Community-based service organizations are also involved in the project through participating in orientation sessions for soon to be released inmates.

Outcomes
The Vera Institute of Justice is implementing an evaluation of the program. The evaluation will focus on three things: At the most fundamental level, it will determine whether Project Greenlight participants, who prepare for release in several different ways, have lower recidivism rates than similar released offenders who did not participate in the program. The study will also examine outcomes that influence recidivism such as the ability to secure stable housing, find and keep a job, relationships between people on parole and the officers who supervise them, community resources, and relationships with family and friends, all of which should discourage criminal behavior. Researchers will interview program graduates one month after release and at six months following their release dates. Based on what participants say about their own life circumstances, the researchers will determine whether the program leads to these positive intermediate outcomes. Finally, the evaluation will document which inmates benefit most and what aspects of the program are most effective.

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