On August 12th, 2011, CASES CEO Joel Copperman was selected by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services to serve on the Advisory Board for its Brooklyn for Brooklyn Initiative (B4B).

B4B is a community-based, therapeutic model for serving youth in state custody, created and launched this year by OCFS in Brooklyn. Working with the Vera Institute of Justice and Missouri Youth Services Institute, and based on the recommendations of the Governor’s Task Force on Transforming Juvenile Justice, OCFS adapted national best practices to design a model focused on the positive development of youth in nurturing environments linked closely to their homes and communities.

The B4B Advisory Board is the first of its kind, supporting and representing the entire continuum of OCFS services for youth in Brooklyn—day placement, residential placement and aftercare—rather than one individual facility or program. The creation of one unified advisory board supports OCFS’ new model of providing one continuous stream of care for Brooklyn youth in state custody in close partnership with families and communities. The ultimate goal is to promote positive development and long-term success of youth.