A Holistic Alternative to Bail & Pretrial Detention
Pretrial detention is a fundamentally unjust part of the criminal legal system, and this is largely due to cash bail—the amount of money required to secure release to the community while awaiting trial. The purpose of bail is to make sure that someone who has been charged with a crime returns to court. However, the current bail system directly results in widespread race- and wealth-based incarceration. People who have not been found guilty of any crime but who cannot afford to pay bail—many of whom are Black, Latine, low income, homeless, or have mental illness—are forced to live in inhumane conditions for months and sometimes years awaiting trial.
Given the widely documented, dangerous conditions inside Riker’s Island, including numerous deaths of people jailed while they await trial, the critical nature of Pretrial Services as an alternative to bail and pretrial detention is clear. By assisting clients to attend required court appearances, the CASES Manhattan Supervised Release Program (MSRP) helps people avoid unnecessary jail detention. MSRP participants are thus able to remain in the community and avoid disruptions to employment, housing, and treatment while maintaining family and community commitments. The MSRP team also offers connections to community-based treatment and social support programs to help clients achieve long-term health and success—including permanently exiting the criminal legal system.
After our Court Services team meets with a person awaiting arraignment in the courts, a judge may assign them to CASES MSRP. The MSRP community program team provides the following services from offices in four boroughs:
- Comprehensive screening and clinical assessment
- Individualized goal development and success planning
- Connections to mental health and substance use treatment, including at CASES Nathaniel Clinic
- Specialized harm reduction and opioid overdose prevention tools and counseling
- Enhanced mentoring services for youth and young adults
- Street homeless outreach and engagement field work
- Assistance and support with getting to court and avoiding rearrest
- Immediate access to basic needs items, including food, clothing, phones, and emergency respite housing
Impact
By diverting people from bail, pretrial detention, and incarceration to supervised release, CASES MSRP helps New Yorkers avoid the harm and trauma of City jails—an experience that correlates with increased recidivism—while also saving significant public expense, given that a month spent by a single person at Rikers costs City taxpayers more than $45,000.
In 2023, MSRP:
- Diverted 5,169 people from bail, jail, and prison, including more than 1,000 with behavioral health treatment needs better supported in the community as opposed to jail and nearly 1,500 experiencing homelessness and in need of targeted outreach and support to avoid cyclical arrests and incarceration primarily resulting from arrests related to meeting daily living needs
- Supported 64% of clients to avoid rearrest and 83% to avoid felony rearrest
- Made 1,358 referrals to support services including employment/vocational, mental health, housing, emergency food, substance use, and other services
