Comment on NYCHA’s Proposed Improvements to Its Criminal Justice Policies

Dear Colleagues,

NYCHA is working to modernize criminal justice-related policies to create a fairer system for our residents – one that promotes healthy families and stable housing while ensuring community safety at our developments and within our communities. 

NYCHA is committed to improving policies that keep employees and residents safe while addressing the challenges faced by justice-involved applicants and residents, as well as their family members.   

We have already incorporated policies that make it possible for individuals re-entering the community from the criminal justice system to become safely and stably housed. Our Family Re-Entry Program, which allows people who have been out of the justice system for less than three years to live with family members in NYCHA housing, is the largest public housing re-entry program of its kind in the United States, and has served as a model for other housing authorities across the country.  

As a next step towards modernizing our criminal justice policies related to admission and occupancy, NYCHA is considering several changes. The proposed policy changes do not diminish public safety in any way. Rather, they endeavor to alleviate onerous restrictions, which we believe, once removed, will allow vulnerable individuals and their families greater access to the familial support they need to be healthy, stable, and successful in our NYCHA and New York City communities. 

The policies and proposed amendments are as follows: 

• Any applicant who has past criminal activity within NYCHA’s lookback period will receive an individualized review. This will allow NYCHA to more thoroughly assess the whole of that individual’s circumstances before making an admissions decision;
• Eligibility based on current drug use will be limited to drug use within the past year, and applicants who may be denied based on current drug use will also receive an individualized review; and 
• Changes to the permanent exclusion program, including setting a minimum age for exclusion.

We are proposing these changes based on established criminal justice research, years of administrative experience, and the recommendations and feedback we have received over the years from NYCHA residents and their community advocates and representatives. 

NYCHA recognizes that many employees are also current and former public housing residents. Additionally, many employees have worked at NYCHA developments for many years, and know our residents – their challenges and concerns – first hand. Together, we share the same goals of balancing public safety while supporting and improving the lives of our families. Therefore, we recognize the importance of engaging employees in these policy changes and request that you provide feedback, so that we can implement the strongest policies possible.

To that end, we are making the policies and proposed amendments available to all members of the NYCHA community and all of our partners, for a 30-day open public comment period.  

To view the full policies and proposed amendments, please go to on.nyc.gov/cjus-comments.

You are invited to submit comments on these areas or other justice-related policies by October 14, 2020, to this email address: cjus.comments@nycha.nyc.gov.

Your feedback is important to this process; it will be reviewed and will inform our decisions on these criminal justice issues. 

Thank you in advance for your thoughtful participation. We look forward to hearing from you. 

Sincerely, 

Greg Russ, Chair & Chief Executive Officer