December 2020

One Step Forward For Families

During this season of generosity, New York families with incarcerated parents received a priceless gift: on December 23, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed the Proximity Bill (S724A/A6710A) into law, representing a huge victory and welcome news for children and their families who until now have often had to travel hundreds of miles to visit an incarcerated parent.


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The Osborne Association
During this season of generosity, New York families with incarcerated parents received a priceless gift: on December 23, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed the Proximity Bill (S724A/A6710A) into law, representing a huge victory and welcome news for children and their families who until now have often had to travel hundreds of miles to visit an incarcerated parent. This long-awaited law directs the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) to place incarcerated parents in the prison in closest proximity to their minor children. (The facility must also meet parents’ designated security level, and program and health needs.)

The evidence that children love and need their parents is all around us, and yet families face high barriers to staying connected: many of our state’s 52 prisons are not accessible by public transportation, and are many hours away from where families of those incarcerated live. For more than nine years, children, family members, and advocates have worked to pass this legislation to support family relationships and children’s wellbeing.

We are grateful for Osborne’s Youth Action Council member April, who inspired Senator Velmanette Montgomery to write the bill in 2011; for the young people who traveled to Albany year after year to speak with elected officials, shared their stories, held press conferences and rallies; and for the parents (currently and formerly incarcerated) and caregivers who passionately added their voices to the call for change.
YAC member Anthony speaking at the Visiting is a Lifeline Press Conference in December 2019.
While DOCCS had resumed visiting that had been suspended at the start of the pandemic, they announced this week that visits in ALL New York State prisons are temporarily suspended due to a surge in COVID in prisons and their surrounding communities.

The pandemic has made it difficult for all families to see one another and has been particularly hard on children who worry about their parents’ well being inside prison.

For approximately 80,000 children in NY State whose parents are in State prisons, the inability to visit parents and spend holidays together has been a longstanding reality predating the pandemic. By signing this legislation, Governor Cuomo has set a national example that supports children’s health and wellbeing by acknowledging and supporting their access to their moms and dads in prison.

Since it was first introduced by Senator Montgomery, this bill to keep parents closer to home has been championed by several legislators, including Assemblymember Nily Rozic who carried the bill in the Assembly, spoke at numerous rallies, and secured the support of her colleagues; and Corrections Chairs Sen. Luis R. Sepúlveda, Assemblymember David Weprin, and Sen. Gustavo Rivera who carried an earlier version of this bill, made himself available to the Youth Action Council, and championed it along with many others.

The NY Initiative for Children of Incarcerated Parents (a statewide collaborative led by Osborne’s Center for Justice Across Generations whose members include families, community-based organizations, and partners representing government agencies and the faith-based community) looks forward to collaborating with DOCCS to implement the new law. (Read the full press release here: bit.ly/OAProximity1220)
But wait, there’s more! In the coming legislative session, we will press for legislation that protects in-person visiting in all state and local correctional facilities, codifying in-person visiting into State law. As 2020 comes to a close (and not a moment too soon), we ask for your support as we advocate for policies that consider, support, and strengthen families during and after incarceration, and offer programs that meet the needs and respect the rights of children whose parents are in jail or prison, and that empower the 12,000 men, women and young people whose lives we touch every year.
Please consider Osborne in your end-of-year giving plans
Happy holidays from all of the staff here at Osborne.