Jersey City Community Solutions Enhancement Project for Minority Young Adults

The City of Jersey City proposes the Jersey City Community Solutions Enhancement Project for minority young adults. The purpose of this enhancement project is to build access, inclusion, and equity into the Jersey City Community Solutions (JCCS) program through one-on-one peer guidance, hands-on case management, increased contact, and additional support services. The project will build on JCCS's current intervention program for low-level, nonviolent offenders, and focus specifically on young minority adult defendants aged 18 to 22.

Since inception in 2017, JCCS has used evidence-based practices to promote restorative justice and work with government and community-based stakeholders to provide a rehabilitation-focused approach to low-level offenders. This has resulted in a significant positive change for all residents of Jersey City. JCCS serves roughly 50 young adults aged 18-22 each year (nearly a quarter of total program participants) and has found that there are complex barriers impeding this group's ability to complete the program. This demographic also has the highest intake risk factor score. Only 25 percent of young adults aged 18-22 successfully complete the program. Of that 25 percent, three-quarters identify as minority or non-white.
The proposed project is designed to divert approximately 200 young minority adults over four years from the court system and reduce recidivism by connecting them with services they need to overcome addiction, undereducation, unemployment, and other barriers that often trap them in poverty. Project activities include hiring a dedicated Supervisor Case Manager, Case Manager, and minority Peer Mentor to support these participants and provide them tools for a better future. Having a team focused on young minority adults helps ensure JCCS can better address this group’s needs by streamlining access to services, providing one-on-one peer guidance, and addressing the full scope of barriers impacting this group in Jersey City. It also allows JCCS to expand capacity and serve more minority young adults. Further, JCCS will partner with the New Jersey Institute of Technology in a research-practitioner partnership to improve program delivery to minority young adult participants in various meaningful ways.

Expected outcomes include increasing the rate of successful program completion for high-risk minority young adult participants and improving their linkage with better educational and employment opportunities. Ultimately, this will reduce recidivism and make Jersey City a safer and more engaged community for all.