How We Work

Young New Yorkers provides programming for court-involved young people ages 14-25. YNY accepts referrals from criminal legal partners such as judges, lawyers, and partnering organizations, as well as via Project Reset. We currently partner with Brooklyn and Manhattan Criminal Court and NYC Family Court throughout the five boroughs.

REFERRALS

Young New Yorkers partners with organizations across New York City to bring our arts diversion programs to life. Our partners refer system-involved young people to YNY, where we divert them away from the carceral system and into supportive programming.

YNY currently accepts referrals from:

Kings County District Attorney
The Legal Aid Society
Manhattan District Attorney
NYC Department of Probation
New York Family Court
Office of Court Administration

If you have questions about how to partner with us or would like to make a referral, please contact us at info@youngnewyorkers.org.

PROJECT RESET

Project Reset is a prison diversion program for New Yorkers with low-level criminal charges . Launched in 2016, it began as an initiative offering 16- and 17-year-olds arrested for low-level crimes the option of attending one or two sessions of tailored programming in exchange for having the prosecutor’s office decline to prosecute the case against them.

Project Reset soon expanded to include individuals of any age facing low-level criminal charges in all five boroughs. The goals and objectives for early diversion programs are to:

Provide an opportunity to avoid criminal prosecution and related collateral consequences for individuals facing low-level criminal charges.
Significantly reduce the number of individuals who are processed through the court system and allow for a more efficient use of criminal justice system resources.
Provide responses to alleged criminal conduct that are proportionate to the alleged crime and reflective of the needs and risks of the participant.
Provide young people with services and opportunities for positive engagement.