The Osborne Association is committed to transforming lives, communities, and the criminal justice system through:

• Direct Services and Programs in community sites in New York City, Newburgh, NY, and more than 30 prisons and jails, designed and proven to transform individuals, families, and communities

• Policy Advocacy, Training, Technical Assistance, and Testing New Approaches through the Osborne Center for Justice Across Generations, and coalitions and partnerships, designed to transform the criminal justice system

DIRECT SERVICES AND PROGRAMS:

Osborne offers a wide range of direct services to justice system-involved people and their children and families. Our programs and services are evidence- and experience-based and designed to:

• reduce crime and reliance on incarceration,

• heal the damage and trauma of crime and incarceration, and

• enhance opportunity for those affected by crime and incarceration.

Alternatives to Incarceration

• Defender-based court advocacy, utilizing forensic social workers in partnership with defense counsel, leading to pretrial release (alternatives to detention) and sentence mitigation leading to alternatives to incarceration or lower sentences. 

• Outpatient substance use disorder treatment as a condition of pretrial release, as an alternative to incarceration, or as an alternative to re-incarceration for individuals under parole supervision. 

Family Services and Supports Throughout Justice System Involvement

• Parenting and relationship education for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated parents  

• Family-Focused Discharge and Reentry Planning 

• Therapeutic, inclusive, and supportive services and activities for children, youth and families affected by incarceration

• Child support and financial literacy workshops and access to benefits and work opportunities to improve family financial health

• Youth Development and Youth Leadership programs for children of incarcerated parents 

• Prison and jail visiting support services 

  • Video visiting between Osborne sites and numerous NYC jails and NYS prisons

  • Family Centers offering enhanced visiting with children in prison visiting rooms

  • Hospitality Centers offering respite and support for visitors to upstate prisons

  • Transportation assistance

Services and Supports Within the Walls and Beyond the Bars

• Cognitive Behavioral Treatment and other evidence-based interventions proven to heal trauma, reduce recidivism and increase re-integration, in correctional and community settings

• Educational, Restorative, and Health programs in prisons and jails continuing into the community, addressing specific issues and populations including:

  • Older adults (the fastest growing prison population) 

  • Men and women serving very long and life sentences for violent crimes 

  • People living with HIV/AIDS, HCV, and other chronic conditions

• Training in soft skills and hard skills designed to prepare justice involved individuals to succeed in the job market 

• Job placement and job retention support

• Job Creation for justice-involved individuals through Social Enterprises:

  • Fresh Start Catering (originally a culinary arts training program founded by Barbara Margolis more than 30 years ago) now providing a wide array of culinary education, apprenticeships, and employment through institutional and event catering (www.freshstartcatering.org)

  • Janitorial Maintenance Services, providing professional custodial services to governmental facilities and businesses throughout New York City

POLICY ADVOCACY, TRAINING, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, AND TESTING NEW APPROACHES

Osborne Center for Justice Across Generations

• New York Initiative for Children of Incarcerated Parents

• Aging in Prison and Reentry

Fulton Community Reentry Center

• Osborne is re-developing a former prison in the Bronx into a community reentry center offering transitional housing for people coming home from prison and jail.

For more information about Osborne programs, please contact us using the below form, or call (718) 707-2600.