DA Hynes’ YCP Program Offers Youth
A Second Chance

Youth & Congregations In Partnership (YCP) is a program established ten years ago by District Attorney Charles J. Hynes. It is a community-based intervention program promoting rehabilitation and the reduction of recidivism among Brooklyn’s court-involved and at risk-youth.

Today, under the supervision of Senior Deputy District Attorney Joan Gabbidon, YCP has become an integral component of DA Hynes’ ongoing crime intervention and prevention initiatives.

The program is specifically designed to unite court involved and at risk youth, between the ages of 13 and 22, with mentors from various faith-based congregations throughout the community.

Candidates for the program are referred by the Legal Aid Society, prosecutors, and others. They are initially interviewed and screened by a social worker.

Youth accepted into the YCP program are mentored by a committee of at least three trained volunteers and provided with the comprehensive services deemed appropriate by their assigned social worker during a year-long process of intervention.

The program encourages numerous youth offenders to change their lives and has also motivated many Brooklyn residents to stay active in their neighborhoods.

A CLOSER LOOK: JOAN GABBIDON

Joan Gabbidon is currently the Senior Deputy District Attorney in charge of youth intervention and re-entry programs, including YCP, within the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office. She graduated from Hofstra Law School in 1976. During her 17-year tenure with the District Attorney’s Office as an Executive, Gabbidon has been responsible for various bureaus including the Rackets Division, and the Domestic Violence and Sex Crimes Bureaus.
 

Gabbidon successfully developed techniques in electronic surveillance and street tactics—two common tools used in most cases requiring long term investigations—to convict criminals in racketeering, drug trafficking and corruption. Her valuable expertise and unique experience were gathered into a series of electronic surveillance handbooks and operation manuals that are used by other bureaus in the district attorney’s office.

The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office has long been a leader in advocating treatment for mentally ill criminals. Below is a story from the National District Attorneys Association website, about an innovative technique being tried in Montana.

Look for more about our own Mental Health programs, including a special Mental Health Court, in future newsletters.

MONTANA AGENCIES PUSH MENTAL-HEALTH EFFORT FOR PRISONERS

The stocky man with a lot of tattoos and a shaved head stood outside his cell at the psychological ward of the Montana State Prison and almost cried. A guard stood nearby while a small group of state lawmakers listened intently - from a comfortable distance.
 

Sean Fournier described himself as schizophrenic and told lawmakers how he failed to get the proper care the last time he was released from prison.
 

"I thought there was no hope," Fournier said.
 

Without medication and proper mental health care to treat his condition, Fournier ended up back in prison. It's the kind of cycle Gov. Brian Schweitzer and state officials hope to break through collaboration between the Department of Corrections and the Department of Public Health and Human Services.
 

Under the Secure Treatment Evaluation Program, or STEP, around 60 prisoners with severe mental illnesses would be housed in an existing secure building on the state hospital's campus in Warm Springs. They would be joined by about 60 patients from the state hospital who have been convicted of a crime but found mentally ill, who are awaiting a court-ordered mental examination, or who have been deemed unfit to continue with a trial.

http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/01/11/news/state/75-mental-health.prt