Restorative Justice Bureau brings second chance for convicted adults
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ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- A new bureau in Albany County is helping young convicted adults right their wrongs. It provides them the chance to rehabilitate into society, instead of going to prison. The alternative involves education, self awareness, and accountability. District Attorney Lee Kindlon established the bureau and it's programs shortly after taking office in January.
"Too often we just focus on the defendant and the crime and what we can do to get that person to prison" Kindlon explained. "So now we're asking, how did this person get into the criminal justice system? Why is this person in front of us and what can we do to to restore them back to a place where they don't need to turn to selling drugs to support their family? Where they don't need to hold a gun because they feel like their neighborhood is dangerous. What can we do to help train them to make better choices?"
There are multiple programs within the bureau. They often include volunteer community members who can understand what the defendant is going through. They call it a "slice of society," including professors, community advocates, and even former convicted felons who serve as mentors.
"We call them fondly the gritty group because they're gritty people" Bureau Chief Renee Merges remarked. "And that's why we want them."
One of the requirements of the program is accountability. Defendants must speak with everyone who was harmed by their crime. Often, they find the will to change.
"they have to admit wrongdoing. They have to come to grips with all the ways they failed themselves, their family, the community" Kindlon commented. "And they have to go through the self realization and how to become a better person. And that's not easy."
Kindlon explained that from the outside, many people see it as a "get out of jail free card," but that's not the case.
"Truth be told, what we put the individuals through in these programs is harder" Kindlon commented.
For Merges, there are failures, and there are great successes. As she looked back on recent cases, she felt that's what keeps the programs going.
“By the time this kid graduated from the community partnership program, he was completely transformed" Merges stated. "In the meantime, he had two more children. He was working full time. His mother, she had come with him and his girlfriend. They also transformed because now they were with a person who was taking his responsibility absolutely seriously."
Merges and Kindlon mentioned the hardest moment of the process so far. After graduation, one graduate and his family were working to turn around the crime they saw in their community. The graduate was murdered, and his loss deeply impacted many.
"It's just a good group of people really trying to make a difference" Kindlon stated about the victim's family. "Their investment and their trust in us to help their son get to a better place and our trust in him to allow him to get to this better place. It was tough for everybody to absorb that loss. But it only makes us believe in the program more because, again, that trust between my office and the community is so important. It has to be built upon. So we're getting there."
While these programs help many young adults, Kindlon wished there were resources like these for younger teens, protected by the Raise the Age law. The law ensures that 16 to 17-year-olds convicted of crimes cannot be prosecuted as adults, and are instead tried in family court.
"We have our thumb on these kids to say, look, we can help change your life, come with us" Kindlon said. "It is a frustrating thing right now to watch. To lose cases into the family court system because they're just not resourced. They don't have the plans and the programs that we do. I don't want to put a 16-year-old carrying a gun in prison."
In the past few month’s, the District Attorney's office has seen a decrease in felony charges. They say it's motivating them to continue making these resources available to as many defendants as possible.