NY State Senate Bill 2025-S5061

Senate Bill S5061

2025-2026 Legislative Session

Establishes a reintegration pilot program for individuals being released from correctional facilities

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Crime Victims, Crime And Correction Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Feb 18, 2025	referred to crime victims, crime and correction

2025-S5061 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A3934
Current Committee:: Senate Crime Victims, Crime And Correction
Law Section:: Correction Law
Laws Affected:: Add §71-b, Cor L

2025-S5061 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Directs DOCCS, in collaboration with OTDA, OMH and OASAS, to establish a 5-year reintegration pilot program for individuals being released from correctional facilities to provide supports and services to prepare for release, assist with reintegration into the community, and reduce recidivism.

2025-S5061 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S5061

SPONSOR: CLEARE
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the correction law, in relation to establishing a rein-
tegration pilot program for individuals being released from correctional
facilities

 
PURPOSE:

To establish a reintegration pilot program for individuals being
released from correctional facilities.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one of the bill adds a new section 71-b to establish the reinte-
gration pilot program.

Section two establishes the effective date.

JUSTIFICATION:

Nationally, formerly incarcerated people are ten times more likely to be
homeless than the general public. (1) According, to 2014 numbers, 9,300
formerly incarcerated individuals were released from state prison to New
York City, few of whom were referred to, or directly connected to,
supportive services as part of their release plan. In fact, 23% of the
time, they went straight to homeless shelters that have well-documented
poor conditions, including crime and drug use.  (2) This problem has
only been exacerbated over the last few years.  In 2017, approximately
25,000 were released from New York State prisons; upon release, 54% of
these individuals were heading straight to shelters. (3) This has been
dubbed the "prison-to-shelter pipeline."

Reentry planning and access to comprehensive support are essential for
ensuring successful reintegration into the community after incarcera-
tion. The Reintegration Pilot Program establishes a proactive, struc-
tured approach to reentry by providing incarcerated individuals with
tailored support and services up to a year before their release and
continuing for up to a year post-release. By addressing critical needs
such as mental health care, substance use treatment, stable housing, job
training, and employment opportunities, this program lays a solid foun-
dation for successful community reintegration. The total estimated
fiscal cost would be approximately $6.2 million, which is far lower than
the average cost of holding an individual in local jail or state prison,
which can range from $82,000 per year per person to a high of $560,000
in New York City, as well as associated costs around potential emergency
room visits, homelessness, and other social determinants of health.  The
current prison-to-shelter pipeline creates a system that is unsafe,
costly, and detrimental to good public policy. This legislation is crit-
ical in providing a roadmap, as well as the necessary tools to fix a
fundamentally broken system, and the vicious prison-shelter-prison cycle
which is detrimental to all New Yorkers.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New Bill

 
FISCAL:

$6.2 million

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the January next succeeding the date upon
which it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition,
amendment and for repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the
implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be
made and completed on or before such effective date.

2025-S5061 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   5061
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 18, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  CLEARE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Crime Victims,  Crime  and
   Correction
 
 AN  ACT to amend the correction law, in relation to establishing a rein-
   tegration pilot program for individuals being  released  from  correc-
   tional facilities

   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The correction law is amended by adding a new section  71-b
 to read as follows:
   §  71-B.  REINTEGRATION  PILOT  PROGRAM. 1. THE DEPARTMENT, IN COLLAB-
 ORATION WITH THE OFFICE OF  TEMPORARY  AND  DISABILITY  ASSISTANCE,  THE
 OFFICE  OF  MENTAL  HEALTH  AND  THE  OFFICE  OF  ADDICTION SERVICES AND
 SUPPORTS SHALL ESTABLISH AND CONDUCT  A  FIVE-YEAR  REINTEGRATION  PILOT
 PROGRAM TO HELP ENSURE THAT INCARCERATED INDIVIDUALS WITHIN CORRECTIONAL
 FACILITIES  RECEIVE  THE SUPPORTS AND SERVICES NECESSARY TO MEANINGFULLY
 PREPARE FOR THEIR RELEASE WHILE STILL INCARCERATED, TO  ASSIST  INDIVID-
 UALS TO REINTEGRATE INTO THE COMMUNITY UPON RELEASE, AND TO REDUCE RECI-
 DIVISM.  SUCH  PILOT  PROGRAM  SHALL  BE CONDUCTED IN THREE CORRECTIONAL
 FACILITIES, CONSISTING OF ONE FEMALE AND TWO MALE  FACILITIES,  SELECTED
 BY   THE  DEPARTMENT,  TAKING  INTO  CONSIDERATION  ADEQUATE  GEOGRAPHIC
 DISTRIBUTION WITHIN THE STATE AS  WELL  AS  AVAILABILITY  OF  SUFFICIENT
 LINKS  TO  SUPPORTS AND SERVICES REQUIRED BY THIS SECTION.  FOR PURPOSES
 OF THIS PILOT PROGRAM, THERE SHALL BE AT LEAST ONE HUNDRED  INCARCERATED
 INDIVIDUALS  WHO  ON  A  VOLUNTARY  BASIS REQUEST PLACEMENT IN THE PILOT
 PROGRAM UP TO ONE YEAR BEFORE  THEIR  EARLIEST  EXPECTED  RELEASE  DATE.
 EACH  INCARCERATED  INDIVIDUAL  SHALL  RECEIVE AN IN-DEPTH SCREENING AND
 ASSESSMENT TO DETERMINE THEIR SPECIFIC NEEDS AS RELATING  TO,  INCLUDING
 BUT  NOT  LIMITED TO, MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER SERVICES,
 EDUCATIONAL NEEDS AND JOB READINESS. IN ADDITION TO AN IN-DEPTH  SCREEN-
 ING  AND  ASSESSMENT,  PARTICIPANTS  IN  THE PILOT PROGRAM SHALL ALSO BE
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD05018-01-5

 S. 5061                             2
 
 LINKED WITH NOT-FOR-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND  PEER  TO  PEER  ENGAGEMENT
 OPPORTUNITIES  TO  ASSIST  WITH THE INDIVIDUAL'S REINTEGRATION PLANNING.
 THIS SHALL OCCUR NO LESS THAN SIX MONTHS PRIOR TO THEIR EXPECTED RELEASE
 DATE  AND  SHALL  CONSIST OF, BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO, ASSISTANCE APPLYING
 FOR PUBLIC  BENEFITS,  REFERRALS  AND  LINKS  TO  MENTAL  HEALTH  AND/OR
 SUBSTANCE  USE  DISORDER SERVICE PROVIDERS IF APPLICABLE, CONNECTIONS TO
 EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES AS WELL AS JOB TRAINING PROGRAMS  IF  APPROPRI-
 ATE, ASSISTANCE FINDING AVAILABLE STABLE HOUSING OPTIONS TO BE AVAILABLE
 UPON  RELEASE  AND GENERAL SUPPORTS AND SERVICES THAT MAY BE HELPFUL FOR
 AN INDIVIDUAL REINTEGRATING BACK INTO THE COMMUNITY.
   2. PRIOR TO RELEASE FROM THE  CORRECTIONAL  FACILITY,  THE  DEPARTMENT
 SHALL  IDENTIFY AND PLACE INDIVIDUALS WITH NOT-FOR-PROFIT PROVIDERS THAT
 SHALL CONTINUE SUPPORTS AND SERVICES, AS NEEDED, FOR UP TO AN ADDITIONAL
 YEAR TO ENSURE THE INDIVIDUAL'S SUCCESSFUL REINTEGRATION INTO THE COMMU-
 NITY. SUCH SERVICES SHALL INCLUDE, BUT NOT  BE  LIMITED  TO,  CONNECTING
 INDIVIDUALS  TO  HEALTH  AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES, AS APPROPRIATE,
 ASSISTANCE ENSURING COMPLIANCE WITH ANY PAROLE OR COURT MANDATED  ACTIV-
 ITIES,  CONNECTIONS  TO  EMPLOYMENT  OPPORTUNITIES BASED ON THEIR SKILLS
 IDENTIFIED WHILE INCARCERATED AND ASSISTANCE ACQUIRING STABLE AFFORDABLE
 HOUSING. THE COLLABORATING AGENCIES SHALL CONTRACT  WITH  NOT-FOR-PROFIT
 PROVIDERS TO EFFECTUATE THE REQUIREMENTS SPECIFIED IN THIS SECTION WHERE
 THE DEPARTMENT IS UNABLE.
   3. THE COMMISSIONER, IN CONSULTATION WITH APPROPRIATE COMMUNITY ORGAN-
 IZATIONS,  SHALL  SUBMIT  WITHIN  ONE YEAR OF THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS
 SECTION, AND ANNUALLY THEREAFTER, A REPORT TO THE GOVERNOR,  THE  TEMPO-
 RARY  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  SENATE  AND THE SPEAKER OF THE ASSEMBLY ON THE
 EFFECTIVENESS OF THIS PILOT PROGRAM.  THIS PILOT SHALL RUN FOR TWO YEARS
 AND COLLECT DATA ON THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE:
   (A) CONNECTED TO HOUSING;
   (B) HOUSED;
   (C) CONNECTED TO EMPLOYMENT;
   (D) EMPLOYED;
   (E) CONNECTED TO MENTAL HEALTH CARE; AND
   (F) WITH SUBSTANCE ABUSE DISORDER.
   4. NO PERSON SHALL HAVE THE RIGHT TO DEMAND OR  REQUIRE  PARTICIPATION
 IN THE PILOT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED BY THIS SECTION.
   5. NOTHING IN THIS SECTION SHALL BE CONSTRUED TO AUTHORIZE THE DEPART-
 MENT  TO  HOLD  AN  INCARCERATED  INDIVIDUAL IN CONFINEMENT BEYOND THEIR
 EARLIEST RELEASE DATE.
   § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next  succeed-
 ing the date upon which it shall have become a law. Effective immediate-
 ly,  the  addition,  amendment  and/or  repeal of any rule or regulation
 necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective  date  are
 authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.