Bronx HOPE - Mobile Outreach

The Center for Court Innovation, through Bronx Community Solutions, seeks to enhance the Bronx Heroin Overdose Prevention & Education (Bronx HOPE) program’s capacity to assist individuals who demonstrate drug dependence under Category 1 of the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s FY 2022 Field Initiated: Encouraging Innovation solicitation.

Opioid overdose deaths have been devastating communities across New York City, especially in the Bronx. Bronx HOPE is part of the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office and the City of New York’s effort to implement harm reduction responses for individuals with substance use disorder. Launched in 2019, Bronx HOPE represents an innovative approach to resolving low-level arrests for possession of a controlled substance and diverting individuals with substance use disorder away from the court system. Leveraging a harm reduction model and rapid peer engagement at the precinct level, the program works with all 12 New York City Police Department precincts in the Bronx to connect individuals to harm reduction services.

Due to the vast need for increased access to meaningful harm reduction responses, the Center seeks to support the inclusion of a Bronx HOPE mobile office space. The mobile office, New York City's first mobile outreach unit that prioritizes connecting with individuals at the precinct immediately after their arrest, will increase the number of individuals who complete Bronx HOPE programming. The mobile office will also expand existing programming to include targeted preventative community outreach, increasing the community's access to treatment and connection while providing a private space for participants to engage with peers. This innovative program will give the community immediate access to harm reduction resources 24 hours a day.

Bronx HOPE will partner with Lehman College of the City University of New York to develop a logic model, assess the effectiveness of the program's strategy, and produce a best practices guide and lessons learned booklet to assist organizations interested in replicating the Bronx HOPE model. Bronx Movil will serve as a consulting partner to assist with operating the mobile office and creating a community outreach plan.

The Center anticipates that 10% of the budget will be allocated to Accelerating Justice Through the Creation of Approaches and Tools, 18% to Building Alternative Strategies, 18% to Increasing Diversion Opportunities, 18% to Enhancing Collaboration Across Justice, Behavioral Health, and Public Health, 18% to Improving Relationships Between Communities and the Criminal Justice System, and 18% to Addressing Substance Use Disorders.