A Guide for Residents of the Capital District and People Formerly Detained in Jail
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Twelfth Edition: 2017-2019 Capital Region Connections A guide for residents of the Capital District and people formerly detained in jail Twelfth Edition: 2017-2019 Capital Region Connections A guide for residents of the Capital District and people formerly detained in jail Mailing Address: Street Address: Pine West Plaza, Building 2, 220 Green Street, Albany, NY 12202 Washington Ave. Ext., Albany, NY 12205 i Capital Region Connection – Twelfth Edition – 2017-2019 Single Copies of Capital Region Connections (Formerly “On Your Own”) are available free of charge to inCarCerated people throughout New York State and to staff members of agenCies and others who provide serviCes to them. Send all requests to: Center for Law and JustiCe Pine West Plaza, Building 2 Washington Ave. Ext. Albany, NY 12205 Capital Region Connections is also available online at: http://www.Cflj.org/Cflj/Connections.pdf Support and Grants This resource guide was made possible in part by a grant from The New York Bar Foundation, and by a grant from The Barry Alan Gold Memorial Fund of the Community Foundation for the Greater Capital Region. ii From the Executive Director Welcome to our new and updated version of “On Your Own” which has been expanded and renamed, “Capital Region Connections.” We are hopeful that it will prove to be more informative and helpful to those in our Community seeking free and low-Cost human and legal serviCes and vital information about the Criminal justiCe system. Last year, the Center for Law & JustiCe Celebrated its 31st year of Collaboration and serviCe to the Community. SinCe its founding in 1985, we have served more than 95,000 people, inCluding those who are inCarCerated or were formerly held in our jails and prisons and their families. Our serviCes have foCused heavily upon eduCation, advoCacy, soCial poliCy analysis and systemiC Change. Most recently we began the implementation of our HEAL (Health, EduCation, AdvoCacy, LEAD) initiative whiCh recognizes how racism, poverty, Crime and Criminal justiCe, and health Care are related and how the stress of poverty and racism Contributes to relatively poorer health Conditions in Communities of Color. Aside from publishing researCh reports, presenting publiC testimony, Citing the need for publiC poliCy Changes, engaging in Community outreaCh and eduCation, and providing Client referrals, the Center ConduCts ServiCe Day on Thursdays. On that day, Community members are provided with free access to a finanCial advisor for finanCial information, an attorney for legal information, health insuranCe navigators to assist in securing quality health insuranCe and mediCal students from Albany MediCal College to provide health information and assist Community members with navigating the health Care system and learning how to use their health insuranCe benefits. Additionally, the Center Collaborates with the Albany LEAD (Law EnforCement Assisted Diversion) to support the Community engagement aspect of the program. The Center is strongly Committed to eliminating racial disparities in the Criminal justiCe system, reducing the state’s reliance on imprisonment and mass incarceration, reducing the harm and damage done to poor Communities under these racist poliCies and improving and Changing the way Communities are poliCed. We have been able to effectively serve our Community and its residents largely because of our dediCated staff members that inClude volunteers, student interns, private foundations, and generous finanCial donors, and Clients who teaCh us so muCh. iii Dedication and Inspiration This first edition of the Capital Region Connections is dediCated to the 42 people, both those imprisoned and hostages killed and the more than one hundred seriously wounded at AttiCa nearly 46 years ago. They will never be forgotten. We now know more about those who were imprisoned and the sacrifiCes they made to protest the injustiCes done to them and our Communities by the state. Thanks to historian and researCher, Heather Ann Thompson, her Courageous searCh for the truth has allowed us to know more about and Clearly understand their struggle, the uprising in 1971 and its legacy, and what we must all do to fight for justice. Thompson’s newly published book, Blood in the Water is the most Complete history of the tragedy and sheds new light on every aspect of that uprising. It must be read. Everett Collection Inc./age fotostock This publiCation is also dediCated to Kalief Browder, the 16-year-old from the Bronx who spent three years in Rikers Island, inCluding two years in solitary Confinement waiting to go to trial for stealing a backpack. He was released and never tried. His tragiC experienCe in the Criminal justiCe system took its toll on him. He was never the same and ended up Committing suiCide. He was only 22. His experienCe in our legal and Criminal justiCe speaks volumes of what is wrong with that system. We must never forget what it did to him and hundreds of our Children who are prosecuted as adults and given inadequate indigent defense. He will not have died in vain for his story helped propel a Community response that has led to a Commitment to Close Rikers Island Jail. www.Bilboard.com Courtsey of Spike TV iv Center Mission The Center no longer engages in Client management serviCes, but makes referrals to other serviCe Centers in the Community. The Center for Law and JustiCe envisions a peaCeful, just, and Compassionate Community that provides eaCh resident with equal access to the goods, serviCes and opportunities of the Community. It also seeks the fair and just treatment of all people throughout the Civil and Criminal justiCe systems, and works to reduCe relianCe upon inCarCeration Introduction Although in prinCiple, all Citizens are entitled to the same rights regardless of inCome, it is Clear that those with monetary means tend to have greater access to important legal information and resourCes. Simply getting an answer to a specifiC legal question is a frustrating experienCe for many and for others an impossible task. It is difficult enough to retain the “right” lawyer or find a suitable resourCe, but to obtain the serviCes for free or at reduCed Cost is often impossible. This annotated directory and legal information guide offers Community residents, specifiCally those ConviCted of a Crime and those returning from jail or prison, a variety of legal information and a listing of publiC and private resourCes and legal serviCes that are available in the Capital DistriCt of New York and are free of Charge or offered at a reduCed Cost. Acknowledgments “Connections” was written, researched, designed, and edited by many staff members, volunteers and interns at the Center for Law and JustiCe. SpeCial thanks to: Dannielle Hille, Katie Agar, Lauren Manning, and MaryEllen Freiberg for editing and updating the Current edition. Preface This directory is aimed at those who do not have the luxury of retaining a “family lawyer” to call upon when in need of legal assistanCe, Criminal justiCe information, or available human serviCes. Please be advised that this directory is not intended to replace the professional services of a good lawyer or other professional community providers. The organizations in this directory are listed alphabetiCally, according to the serviCes that they provide. The table of Contents provides an outline for the serviCe areas that are Covered by this guide. v Table of Contents First Steps ....................................................................................................................................... 1 Birth CertifiCates .......................................................................................................................... 2 SoCial SeCurity Card ..................................................................................................................... 4 New York State Driver’s License ................................................................................................... 5 Non-Driver Photo ID Card ............................................................................................................ 5 Parole ............................................................................................................................................. 6 Parole Overview .......................................................................................................................... 7 General Conditions of Parole ................................................................................................... 7 Special Conditions of Supervision ............................................................................................ 8 Parole RevoCation ........................................................................................................................ 9 ConviCted of a Crime while under Parole Supervision ................................................................ 11 Parole RevoCation Guidelines .................................................................................................... 11 Persistent Violators ................................................................................................................... 13 Parole Restoration of Rights ...................................................................................................... 13 CertifiCate of Relief ................................................................................................................ 14 CertifiCate of Good ConduCt .................................................................................................