An Overview
MISSION
The Liberty Fund’s mission is to reduce the number of New Yorkers subjected to unnecessary pretrial detention while simultaneously providing them with much-needed social services. Since August 2017, The Liberty Fund has been critical to the City’s overall decarceration efforts, first through our citywide Charitable Bail Program and now also through our ROR (Released On Recognizance) Program, both of which provide voluntary, person-centered, pretrial case management support.
HISTORY
The Liberty Fund was originally established as New York City’s first city-wide charitable bail fund, founded in partnership with the late founder of The Doe Fund, George McDonald.
TARGET POPULATION
For any NYC resident, participation criteria includes: 1) misdemeanor charge and bail set at $2000 or less and the participant is financially unable to post bail; OR 2) released on recognizance (ROR) and voluntarily agrees to participate.
PROGRAM APPROACH
The Liberty Fund’s overall goals are: 1) to build trust and rapport with clients; 2) to support clients in other aspects of their lives through voluntary services; and 3) to facilitate clients’ personal success to prevent further recidivism. We achieve this through our unique approach: 1) Pretrial – Interventions initiated at the most critical touchpoint for success; 2) Voluntary – Non-mandated services to ensure no additional sanctions; 3) Person-Centered – Best-fit services determined by the participant; 4) Court-based – Engagement leveraged at court for effective time usage.
PROGRAM SERVICES
Each client participates in the following services during the pendency of their case: 1) Case Management – Provide intake, needs assessments, and individual action plans with social service referrals. 2) Critical Court Needs – Provide client court reminders and emergency needs (MetroCards, food vouchers, hygiene kits). 3) Direct Workforce Development and Homelessness Interventions – Provide referrals to best-fit housing and job training programs.
COVID-19 RESPONSE
In response to the pandemic, we quickly and effectively converted to a remote format for uninterrupted provision of essential and viable case management services. As NYC continues to re-open, our nimble and fiscally prudent infrastructure can easily and immediately adapt with the stages of court openings to provide our essential services.
IMPACT
Since 2017, our services have helped over 1200 vulnerable people access needed community-based services while also preventing 5000+ days of pretrial detention with a $3.7M cost savings.