At a city council hearing yesterday, the Correctional Association of New York expressed concern that the Administration for Children’s Services’ (ACS) plans for a new board to oversee the city’s juvenile justice homes would not be independent of ACS. Because the board would report to ACS, Gabrielle Horowitz-Prisco, director of the juvenile justice project at the Correctional Association, likened it to an internal evaluation body rather than the type of independent oversight board recommended by the American Bar Association for criminal justice facilities. Read her testimony here. Victoria Sammartino, executive director of Voices Unbroken who formerly served on the committee that oversaw the city’s juvenile detention centers, suggested that the board should report to City Council rather than ACS.

At the hearing, the Administration for Children’s Services did not have an opportunity to respond to this concern.