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| New 24-Hour Center Opens for Former N.Y. Prison Inmates |
| By Flushing Times Ledger |
| Published: 11/26/2002 |
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Former inmates from Rikers Island who are released before dawn in Queens Plaza typically grab a cup of coffee, head over to the subway and disperse before the sun breaks through the darkness. But now they have another option: visiting a 24-hour center where they can obtain services to ease their transition from prison to freedom. The Fortune Society, an inmate advocacy group, celebrated last Tuesday the official opening of a drop-off center on Queens Plaza that will provide immediate assistance to former prisoners as they return to life on the other side of the jail cell. 'The first hours are critical in terms of increasing people's chance of making it back to the community successfully,' said JoAnne Page, the executive director of the Fortune Society. 'What we try to do is bring them home safely by giving them a safe place to land, a comforting hand, a way to wait out the night and a link to the services they need.' The new center sits at 41-27 29th Ave. in the heart of Queens Plaza, where every morning around 5 a.m. a busload of inmates who have just been released from Rikers Island are discharged and expected to travel home via mass transit. The Queens Plaza dropoff has gone on for years but faced a storm of criticism recently as City Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Woodside) launched a campaign to change the practice, which he derided as unfair both to the former inmates and the neighborhood. The drop-off center addresses some of those concerns by providing a support network to help the inmates as soon as they leave the watch of the city Department of Correction. 'This is the first of its kind that we know of,' said Stanley Richards, the deputy executive director of the Fortune Society. 'We're hoping this is a national model that other jurisdictions and other states will look at.' The released inmates will be encouraged to visit the center as soon as they step into the plaza. 'We'll have our staff out on the street, so they'll be waiting for the buses,' Page said. 'They'll be out there waiting for people to come.' The program specifically targets inmates who are infected with HIV and is supported by federal Ryan White funding. After reaching out to the released inmates, center staff will connect them to community service groups, provide emergency housing and later follow up on their progress. In many instances, they will escort the clients to a service provider once the sun comes up. 'If you can be a fixed point as these people go by, you can do health intervention for people you may not be able to reach otherwise,' Page said. 'We see the drop-in center as a way of meeting that in a different way with people who otherwise would be drifting on the street and at tremendous risk.' |
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