Resources

• The Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice

  • The Mayor's Office to Prevent Gun Violence

• The Credible Messenger Justice Center was established in 2017

• The city’s Young Men’s Initiative paved the way to hire Credible Messengers by increasing programming for young men that are justice involved.

  • New York City's Young Men's Initiative status report - Urban Institute

• The Sanctuary Model for Trauma-informed care

• Arches Transformative Mentoring Program evaluation - Urban Institute

• Youth Advocates Program (YAP) model evaluation brief

• The role of ordinary citizens played in the great crime reduction

• Center for New York City Affairs – Urban Matters Blog

  • ‘I Take My Story and Use It to Help Others Change Their Lives’ by Urban Matters

  • Life Lessons: The Difference Credible Messengers Make by Elizabeth Walker

  • Raise the Age: Turning a Reform Law Into a Reality by Elizabeth Powers

  • From Mean Streets to Meaningful Mentoring: Becoming a Credible Messenger by Brandon Overby

  • Help Wanted: Nonprofits Hiring Young Adults with Criminal Histories in Supportive Work Environments by Julie Peterson

• The New School News

  • Institute for Transformative Mentoring Helps Credible Messengers Help Vulnerable Youth

  • CNYCA Institute Awarded More than $1 Million from The Pinkerton Foundation to Advance Transformative Mentoring and Violence Interruption in NYC

  • Center for New York City Affairs Launches Institute for Transformative Mentoring

• Solitary Confinement

  • 6x9: A Virtual Experience of Solitary Confinement l The Guardian

  • 15 Day; End the Torture of Solitary Confinement

  • Doing Time in Solitary Is Unimaginably Hard. Getting Out Might Be Harder. l Slate.com

• Unlock Our Kids Mobile Experience

• Raise the Age Law

  • What’s the Status of Raise the Age and is it What Reformers Intended? l Audio Recording of December 2018 Event

  • Raise the Age Law Poses Challenges l The Ink.NYC, December 2018

URBAN MATTERS | justice

My Art Got Me Through My Time: Portraits from Solitary Confinement

By Five Mualimm-ak

I have served over 40,000 hours in isolation at the New York City corrections facility on Rikers Island and in State prison facilities in Upstate New York. During my time in solitary confinement, I produced many portraits. By drawing faces, I tried to draw attention to others who were suffering as well and their reasons for being confined from humanity.

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