The purpose of this Request for Proposals is to announce that Ulster County is seeking proposals from qualified Vendors for the provision of programs and services to divert justice-involved youth (youth who have been arrested and have a case proceeding through the juvenile justice process) and at-risk youth (youth whose conduct or behavior could possibly place them in contact with law enforcement or the juvenile justice system) from further involvement with the juvenile justice system. Through this RFP, Ulster County will select multiple service providers to offer transformative restorative justice conferencing, mentoring, family engagement services, pro-social activities, behavioral health, mental health and substance abuse counseling for youth as part of the Restorative Justice and Community Empowerment Center (“RJCEC”).
The RJCEC is intended to help provide justice-involved and at-risk youth with positive, strength-based programs and services that will place them on a more positive life trajectory and help them connect with their local community. The RJCEC’s goals include a reduction in the long-term racial disparities in youth involvement with the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems and disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline. Additional goals are to provide effective client engagement and community-based services to improve outcomes for youth, increase the rates of Probation adjustment (Diversion), reduce the need for Family Court adjudication, reduce reliance on detention and out-of-home placements, reduce the rate of probation violations, reduce long-term recidivism rates and improve successful outcomes.
The RJCEC will serve youth who qualify under recently passed Raise The Age Legislation and justice-involved youth under 16.