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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Christina Graham, Mitigation Specialist from The Osborne Association
5:27:31
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Christina Graham, a mitigation specialist from The Osborne Association, testified about the importance of Court Advocacy Services (CAS) in providing defense-based advocacy for clients involved in the criminal justice system. She highlighted the cost-effectiveness of their approach and shared a success story to illustrate the impact of their work.
- Last fiscal year, CAS prevented 1,411 years of incarceration, saving $162 million for the city and state.
- Graham shared a case study of "Miss Miller," demonstrating how CAS's comprehensive approach helped address root causes of criminal behavior and led to positive outcomes.
- The testimony concluded with a plea for City Council to expand support and funding for Alternatives to Incarceration (ATIs) and reentry services, rather than implementing cuts.
Christina Graham
5:27:31
Thank you.
5:27:32
Thank you, members of the criminal justice committee, for the opportunity to provide testimony today.
5:27:37
My name is Christina Graham, and I am a mitigation specialist for the Osborne Association, specifically Court Advocacy Services, CAS, providing, defense based advocacy for digit clients that are e that have cases in New York City's Five boroughs, Westchester, Rensselaer, Columbia, Albany, and Greene Counties.
5:27:57
As part of the CAS team for the last six years, I get to know individuals beyond their charges and develop an individualized plan to address the root causes of their in their involvement in with the criminal justice system.
5:28:08
This approach promotes public safety while saving public dollars spent on pretrial detention and prison sentences.
5:28:15
Last fiscal year, CAS prevented one thousand four hundred eleven years of incarceration at a cost savings to the city and state of a hundred $62,000,000.
5:28:25
To understand our impact, I wanna tell you about miss Miller's case that was referred to us by a defense attorney.
5:28:30
Her she had three active cases in three different boroughs, they were all for the same charges, petty and grand larceny.
5:28:36
She was facing a potential sentence of two years for each case to run consecutively, amounting to a potential six years of incarceration.
5:28:43
Miss Miller was in her late fifties without stable housing, battling long term drug addiction coupled with unresolved trauma, a lack of natural support in the community, and constant involvement in the criminal legal system.
5:28:54
By that point in time, she accrued over 45 arrests for the same charges she presented with.
5:28:59
Through an extensive interview process, I learned the intimate details of miss Miller's life, which detailed extensive trauma from childhood all the way through adulthood.
5:29:07
These interviews were the first time she had a chance to tell her life story.
5:29:11
Viewing her story through a public health and social work lens, including our legal understanding, CAS concluded that miss Miller's constant arrests were not a disregard for the law, but a desperate plea for community support.
5:29:22
It was evident that she had complex mental and health mental health and drug addiction issues that were triggered by her past trauma.
5:29:29
I wrote a comprehensive and in-depth report that was accepted by the court, and we secured miss Miller a two year
Althea Stevens
5:29:34
Thank you.
5:29:34
Your time expired.
Christina Graham
5:29:36
I'm sorry?
Diana Ayala
5:29:38
You can you can you wrap up?
Christina Graham
5:29:40
Yes.
5:29:40
Okay.
5:29:41
One two more sentences.
5:29:42
Last year, she returned to the community, and CAS connected her to services.
5:29:46
Currently, she's engaging in an internship, a part time position, receives weekly addiction and therapy services, and we're moving out the shelter in her own apartment in the next thirty days.
5:29:55
And this is just one of many cases.
5:29:57
So we urge city council to expand, support, and fund, not cut, investments in ATI's and reentry services.
5:30:04
Thank you so much for your time.