January 2022

Our 2022 Policy Agenda

In her recent State of the State and Executive Budget announcements, Governor Kathy Hochul shared policy and budget proposals intended to improve opportunities for people affected by the criminal legal system.

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In her recent State of the State and Executive Budget announcements, Governor Kathy Hochul shared policy and budget proposals intended to improve opportunities for people affected by the criminal legal system. Her budget outlines new funding for reentry services, pretrial services, and community violence intervention programs. We look forward to working with the Governor and representatives in the Assembly and Senate to achieve a more just and equitable New York.
Osborne’s Youth Action Council at the New York State Capital.
Osborne’s Center for Justice Across Generations (OCJAG) 2022 policy agenda for New York State is a legislative policy action plan that addresses critical issues facing the people we serve and their children and families. As we work to divert and release as many people as possible from jail and prison and to protect existing pre-trial reforms, we are working to pass legislation related to children and families, aging and parole justice, and housing:
Children and Families

Osborne works to maintain and strengthen healthy family relationships and ensure that children’s needs are considered across the criminal legal system. We call on the legislature to pass these three bills:
Protect In-Person Visits: Enshrine the right to in-person visits at State and local correctional facilities.
Connecting Families New York: Provide free telephone calls for people incarcerated in New York State prisons and jails.
Child Sensitive Arrest: Develop guidelines that safeguard children when a parent is arrested, and offer related training to police departments throughout New York State.
Aging in Prison & Parole Justice

With an ever-increasing number of older people in prison and an ongoing public health crisis, New York must expand release mechanisms and meaningful opportunities for more people to return to their families and communities, by:
Passing the Fair and Timely Parole bill to require the state to release people in prison if they are eligible for release under supervision unless they present a current and unreasonable risk to public safety and the Elder Parole bill to grant a parole interview to consider release to all people who are aged 55 and older and who have served at least 15 years in prison.

Fully staffing the Parole Board with 19 commissioners who believe in transformation.
Read and download OCJAG’s 2022 policy priorities document here.
Join us in our work to build a justice system that promotes healing, safety, accountability, and real opportunities to thrive.


Elizabeth Gaynes,
President & CEO

Initiatives & Campaigns We Support
As members of the Human Services Council and supporters of the #JustPay campaign, Osborne applauds Governor Hochul for her support of equitable wages and cost of living increases for human services workers across New York. This investment will help hundreds of thousands of workers across the state, along with the thousands of nonprofit human services providers that are critical to New York’s post-pandemic recovery.
Enact the Justice Roadmap, a legislative agenda signed onto by more than 200 organizations and legislators, designed to address the harms caused by the deeply entangled criminal legal and immigration systems, and the 2022 Youth Justice Platform.
Increase resources for transitional reentry housing and permanent supportive housing designed for people leaving incarceration, and support a state campaign and legislation that will prohibit discrimination by landlords against people with conviction histories.
Osborne is a member of the ATI/Reentry Coalition, whose recently released Blueprint offers specific recommendations and provides evidence of policies proven to reduce mass incarceration, barriers to successful reentry, and associated harms.