PROGRAM IMPACT

Measuring program effectiveness

For 45 years, AFJ has diverted thousands of young people ages 13–24 across New York City from a punitive criminal justice system to a community-based support program designed to help them avoid future crime and lead successful lives. In addition to our main program of on-going court advocacy, we provide our HIRE UP prevention programs for workforce training, education, and mentoring to ATI court-involved and formerly incarcerated participants and to young people at-risk of engaging in crime.

Determining best practices

In 2021, AFJ completed and copyrighted a best practices program document that outlines and analyzes key elements of how the AFJ model successfully reduces recidivism, to provide a guide for potential replication. We began working on a long-term follow-up study of AFJ participants to assess and track overall quality of life, effectiveness of our program and achievements in education and employment. This long-term study will continue among future graduates.

Recent Outcomes

Low Recidivism - Reconvictions
<7%
Within three years of enrollment, less than 7% of AFJ participants were reconvicted within New York State
Low Recidivism - Incarcerations
6%
Just 6% of AFJ participants were incarcerated within three years of their enrollment in AFJ.
Court Outcomes for
January - December, 2023
71%
Most of the court outcomes were adjournments with deferred sentences. An AFJ participant’s court case can have multiple adjournments as the court and judge evaluate a participant’s progress with the program.
60%
Case adjourned
19%
Deferred sentence
9%
Conditional discharge/ACD
5%
Case dismissed
2%
Adjudicated youth offender
1%
Bail set
1%
Sent to probation
1%
Assigned to AFJ
<1%
Sent to prison
<1%
Plead
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