Partnership is the foundation upon which CASES' programs are designed, implemented, and operated. Partnerships enable CASES to build bridges between the systems through which our participants travel. They also ensure that the multi-dimensional needs of our participants - and our stakeholders - are met. By joining forces with our stakeholders, CASES is also able to build innovative programs that present cost-effective, proven solutions and meaningful opportunities. CASES creates partnerships that are enduring; for over three decades we have worked with the criminal justice system, and the many systems which intersect the lives of those who are court-involved, to offer safe and effective alternatives to incarceration for court involved youth and adults.

For example, CASES' efforts on behalf of court-involved youth facing barriers to education, have enabled us to create coalitions of diverse agencies to ensure that youth exiting detention, jail or secure custodial settings can re-engage in community-based schools.

Each year, thousands of court-involved students from New York City attend custodial schools in jails, detention centers, and secure facilities. Upon release, most are legally entitled - and mandated by the courts - to continue their education. However, data indicate that more than two-thirds of high school age offenders never return to school upon release. Bureaucratic barriers delay or prevent re-enrollment in community schools for many of these students; programmatic barriers, including a lack of resource-intense educational environments for students with low-level reading skills and alienation from the school community, make it likely that young people who do go back to school will not succeed. This has profound consequences for the children and families of our poorest communities. It also has dramatic fiscal consequences; the cost of detaining a juvenile offender in New York City is $358/day or $130,670 per year. The cost of educating a high school student for one year in New York City for FY 2001 was $9,183.

In response to the problem, CASES worked to create the Committee on Court-Involved Students; this Committee brings together for the first time all the key officials needed to craft cohesive multi-agency education policy for court-involved students. CASES coordinates the Committee, which is co-chaired by the NYC Department of Education and the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice, and includes several offices within the Department of Education, the NYC Departments of Probation, Correction and Juvenile Justice, members of the judiciary, and the NYS Office of Children and Family Services. CASES has won agreement from the officials on the Committee for systemic solutions that ensure access to education and provide new educational options to meet the needs of court-involved youth in New York City. The Community Prep High School is the result of the Committee's vision and diligence.