Cuomo

When defense attorney Michael Perehinec’s 16-year-old client was arrested in New York’s Tompkins County last spring, the judge at his arraignment decided to place him in state custody. The client faced violent felony charges, making it difficult, Perehinec said, to argue that he should be immediately released and supervised within the community before a trial.

Amid tired lawmakers reportedly flinging rubber bands back and forth, New York’s Senate and Assembly passed a major two-pronged reform to the child welfare system before the end of a frenzied 2019 legislative session last week.

Just months after a new offer of federal funding to help represent parents in child welfare cases, a commission established by New York’s chief judge has called for statewide guarantees of well-funded legal counsel and a state-level office to ensure that promise is being lived up to.

Close to Home, New York City’s effort to keep incarcerated juveniles in nearby rehabilitative facilities, imperiled by recent budget decisions on the state level, have demonstrated signs of success while juvenile incarceration and arrest rates continue to decline.

Sixteen years ago, in the wake of 9/11, then-New York Gov. George Pataki (R) delivered an impassioned speech about rebuilding his shattered state, starting with its children. He spoke evocatively about the dignity of all children, including a few who wrote poems in the memory of fallen first responders, and specifically about overhauling the education system and expanding health care access for youth.

In what many New York City officials and youth advocates see as a startling and possibly cynical move, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) is pushing a budget proposal that eliminates the $41 million in state funding for a popular city program aimed at improving life outcomes for juvenile offenders.