Bill Text: NY S03035 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes a program to provide immediate assistance to persons to whom an appearance ticket has been issued in order to address the critical needs of such persons for housing, medical treatment, legal representation, and other requirements.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-23 - REFERRED TO CODES [S03035 Detail]
Download: New_York-2025-S03035-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 3035 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 23, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. HOYLMAN-SIGAL -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes AN ACT to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to enacting the "rapid engagement initiative act" The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "rapid 2 engagement initiative act". 3 § 2. The criminal procedure law is amended by adding a new section 4 150.85 to read as follows: 5 § 150.85 Rapid engagement initiative program. 6 1. For the purposes of this section, the following definitions apply: 7 (a) "Client" means an individual given a desk appearance ticket who 8 has elected to engage with a rapid engagement team. 9 (b) "Critical services" means social services including, but are not 10 limited to, health and mental health care, casework managers, substance 11 use treatment, benefits application assistance, supportive, transi- 12 tional, supportive housing, legal services, and access to immediate 13 needs such as food, clothing, access to a cell phone and hygiene 14 products. 15 (c) "Milestone program" means a program that uses goal achievement 16 along a project timeline to track the progress of a client. 17 (d) "Peer navigator" means a caseworker employed by a qualified social 18 service organization, who is able to build trusting relationships with 19 clients and potential clients, either drawing from shared experiences or 20 having worked closely with vulnerable populations. 21 (e) "Precinct" means the physical office location of the policing unit 22 responsible for a designated geography of cities having a population of 23 over one million persons. 24 (f) "Problem solving court" means a local criminal court formed to 25 address a matter of special concern based upon the status of the defend- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD06577-01-5S. 3035 2 1 ant or the victim, including, but not limited to, drug court, domestic 2 violence court, youth court, mental health court and veterans court. 3 (g) "Program" means the rapid engagement initiative program estab- 4 lished by this section. 5 (h) "Qualified social service organization" means a not-for-profit, 6 social service provider approved by the division of criminal justice 7 services as provided in subdivision seven of this section. 8 (i) "Rapid engagement team" means a team of caseworkers and social 9 workers employed by a qualified social service organization, who are 10 responsible for connecting a client to necessary critical services as 11 provided in subdivision six of this section. 12 2. (a) The provisions of this section apply to a city having a popu- 13 lation of one million or more persons. The division of criminal justice 14 services and the department of social services shall establish a rapid 15 engagement initiative program for the purpose of connecting individuals 16 charged with certain crimes to voluntary supportive services shortly 17 after contact with law enforcement. The program shall assess and provide 18 services to individuals to whom an appearance ticket has been issued. 19 Participation in the program by the charged individual shall be volun- 20 tary. 21 (b) Each police precinct shall be assigned one or more peer navigators 22 who shall function as the contact person or persons between the police, 23 the charged individual and the qualified social service organization 24 assigned to the precinct. At least one peer navigator shall be available 25 at all times in a police precinct. 26 (c) One or more qualified social service organizations shall be 27 assigned to each police precinct. Staff from the organizations must be 28 near enough to the precinct to travel to the precinct within an hour. A 29 qualified social service organization may be assigned to more than one 30 precinct. At least one peer navigator and one rapid engagement team 31 shall be stationed at each qualified social service organization. A peer 32 navigator and a rapid engagement team may also be stationed at a problem 33 solving court. 34 3. After the charged individual has been issued an appearance ticket: 35 (a) If the individual is brought to the precinct, the arresting offi- 36 cer shall notify the precinct peer navigator of the potential client 37 and, upon release of the individual, connect the individual directly to 38 the peer navigator. 39 (b) If the individual is not brought to the precinct, the arresting 40 officer shall notify the peer navigator of the potential client. The 41 peer navigator may meet the potential client at the site of the arrest- 42 ing officer and the potential client or may speak with them over the 43 phone. Should the potential client choose to engage with the peer navi- 44 gator further, the precinct officer, with the consent of the potential 45 client, may bring the potential client directly to the peer navigator at 46 the qualified social service organization or at the problem solving 47 court if the individual is scheduled to be arraigned to a problem solv- 48 ing court. 49 4. (a) At the first meeting with a potential client, the peer naviga- 50 tor shall ensure that the potential client knows that their conversation 51 is voluntary. If the potential client chooses to continue they shall 52 provide information to the individual about: 53 (i) the court process, the arraignment hearing process and the 54 arraignment date; and 55 (ii) the services available to clients in the rapid engagement initi- 56 ative program.S. 3035 3 1 (b) If a potential client appears to be experiencing a physical or 2 mental health crisis, the peer navigator shall facilitate connection 3 with critical services necessary to address the individual's immediate 4 needs. 5 5. (a) If a potential client elects to accept program services, the 6 peer navigator will: 7 (i) collect information about the client for use by the rapid engage- 8 ment team, including but not limited to: current residential and postal 9 address, current phone number, current email address and any other 10 information for the purpose of locating the client for future court 11 appearances; and 12 (ii) facilitate transition of the client to the rapid engagement team, 13 either by directly walking the individual to the rapid engagement team 14 site, setting an appointment for the client with the rapid engagement 15 team at the designated qualified social service organization, or 16 connecting the client to the rapid engagement team over the phone or 17 videoconference if in person connection is not available. 18 (b) An appointment with the rapid engagement team shall be made for 19 the client immediately and shall be scheduled for a time occurring with- 20 in twenty-four hours after receipt by the client of the appearance tick- 21 et. In the event that the client is in need of emergency services, an 22 appointment with the rapid engagement team shall be made within twenty- 23 four hours of the client's release from emergency services or stabiliza- 24 tion. 25 (c) If a client will be arraigned at a problem solving court, the peer 26 navigator shall connect the client to a rapid engagement team at that 27 problem solving court, otherwise the client may be connected to a rapid 28 engagement team at the designated qualified social service organization. 29 6. (a) The rapid engagement team shall conduct an assessment of the 30 client's critical service needs, including but not limited to, the 31 client's need for assistance in: 32 (i) obtaining vital documents; 33 (ii) obtaining permanent or emergency housing, or completing housing 34 applications; 35 (iii) applying for public assistance benefits; 36 (iv) making connections with medical, dental and/or mental health 37 resources, including, inpatient or outpatient substance use treatment 38 and clinical groups; 39 (v) making connections with legal counsel; 40 (vi) enrolling in a high school equivalency program or vocational 41 training program, parenthood program, or financial literacy program; and 42 (vii) making connections to programs designed to meet immediate needs 43 such as the need for food, clothing, access to a cell phone and hygiene 44 products. 45 (b) Upon completion of the assessment, the rapid engagement team shall 46 assist the client in the process of obtaining appropriate and necessary 47 services through existing programs offered through the qualified social 48 service organization, another social service organization, the state or 49 a municipality. 50 (c) For each client who accepts services from the rapid engagement 51 team, the team shall: 52 (i) in collaboration with the district attorney for the court 53 in which arraignment is to occur, screen clients for pre-arraignment 54 diversion eligibility, if applicable;S. 3035 4 1 (ii) design a milestone plan that meets the client's specific needs 2 and tracks the client's needs and progress until the client's arraign- 3 ment date; 4 (iii) inform the applicable district attorney, the client's legal 5 counsel, the court and any other necessary party of the client's partic- 6 ipation in the rapid engagement initiative program and provide a letter 7 to the applicable district attorney's office, the client's legal coun- 8 sel, the court, and any other necessary party of the client's partic- 9 ipation in the rapid engagement initiative program, including the number 10 of meaningful engagements a client has had since their arrest and 11 release from the precinct, at the time of a client's arraignment; 12 (iv) facilitate the client's attendance at required court appearances, 13 court-mandated social services appointments or community services 14 appointments, and other community-based recovery support programs. 15 7. (a) The department of criminal justice services, in conjunction 16 with the department of social services, shall designate an appropriate 17 number of qualified social service organizations to fulfill the require- 18 ments of this section. In order to qualify for the program, the organ- 19 ization shall: 20 (i) have a proven track record of provision of effective services to a 21 diverse set of clients; 22 (ii) have in-house services available or the ability to immediately 23 refer clients to entities providing critical services; 24 (iii) have community partnerships with organizations that provide 25 critical services that are immediately available for referrals; 26 (iv) have social workers and caseworkers on staff who have experience 27 working with, and a demonstrated ability to address the needs of a 28 diverse set of clients, including individuals living with chronic mental 29 health needs, who are neuro-diverse, or have criminal justice-based 30 trauma; 31 (v) be equipped to serve clients with limited-English language profi- 32 ciency; and 33 (vi) be equipped to serve clients who are trauma survivors; women; 34 non-binary; gender non-conforming; non-heteronormative; who have intel- 35 lectual and developmental disabilities, traumatic brain injuries, neuro- 36 cognitive disabilities; or who have physical disabilities. 37 (b) Each qualified social service organization shall designate an 38 appropriate number of employees to act as peer navigators and members of 39 the rapid engagement team. To the extent feasible, employees designated 40 to be peer navigators shall have duties dedicated exclusively to that 41 purpose. 42 8. The division of criminal justice services shall annually collect 43 and publish non-identifying data about the rapid engagement initiative 44 program on its website, including but not limited to: 45 (a) the number of individuals issued a desk appearance ticket at each 46 precinct; 47 (b) the number of clients at each precinct who engage with a peer 48 navigator; 49 (c) the number of clients at each precinct who engage with a rapid 50 engagement team; 51 (d) the number of clients at each precinct who are re-arrested prior 52 to arraignment; 53 (e) the number of clients at each precinct who are re-arrested after 54 arraignment; 55 (f) the number of clients who have engaged pursuant to this section 56 with a peer navigator, rapid engagement team, or both, and appeared orS. 3035 5 1 failed to appear for any court dates or for whom a warrant was issued 2 associated with the arrest; and 3 (g) qualitative data from the experience of clients who have received 4 services through the program prior to arraignment. 5 9. An individual's choice not to accept services through the program, 6 or to voluntarily discontinue services through the program, or inability 7 to meet milestones set by a rapid engagement team will not result in any 8 sanctions or negative implications at arraignment. 9 § 2. Each problem solving court and precinct subject to the provisions 10 of this act shall implement such provisions within one year of the 11 effective date of this act. Any problem solving court or precinct may 12 apply to the department of criminal justice services in consultation 13 with the department of social services, for approval to implement the 14 provisions of this act prior to the expiration of the year. 15 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
