Jada Shannon

CaPITOL PRESS ROOM: Senate Dems endorse overdose prevention centers:

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The Senate Democrats are proposing adding $40 million to the governor’s proposal to spend on recommendations from the settlement board, including overdose prevention center programs and services. A similar investment was not included in the one-house budget proposal by the Assembly Democrats, according to VOCAL-NY, which supports the centers. Read More

CaPITOL PRESS ROOM: Senate Dems endorse overdose prevention centers: Read More »

GAY CITY NEWS: Advocates, lawmakers demand accountability from NYPD’s Strategic Response Group:

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City Council spokesperson Rendy Desamours issued a statement slamming the NYPD for failing to attend the hearing. “Agencies are expected to be transparent with the City’s residents through public hearings, and the message sent by NYPD leadership today is that the department does not need to be accountable to the everyday New Yorkers they swore

GAY CITY NEWS: Advocates, lawmakers demand accountability from NYPD’s Strategic Response Group: Read More »

GOTHAMIST: New York has ambitious housing plans for the future. But what can be done right now?:

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If the Adams administration is serious about moving homeless New Yorkers from the streets and shelters and into permanent housing, they should just do it, said Milton Perez, an activist who spent five years in shelters before winning an affordable housing lottery in Brownsville. The “Housing First” approach eliminates onerous eligibility packets and preconditions, like

GOTHAMIST: New York has ambitious housing plans for the future. But what can be done right now?: Read More »

Democrat & chronicle: Most incarcerated New Yorkers now come from upstate, not NYC. What’s behind the shift?:

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When New York changed its laws around where incarcerated people were counted, the next step was to quantify which areas sent the most people to prisons, according to VOCAL-NY’s civil rights campaign director, Nick Encalada-Malinowski. He sees the numbers of incarcerated people coming from upstate communities as a reflection of politics. As New York City

Democrat & chronicle: Most incarcerated New Yorkers now come from upstate, not NYC. What’s behind the shift?: Read More »

NEW YORK STATE OF POLITICS: Lawmakers push back on Hochul’s reluctance to end qualified immunity:

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People who have been treated unfairly by public officials without legal recourse argue more accountability for all officials will improve public safety, and Hochul’s position on the proposal doesn’t make sense. “Gov. Kathy Hochul has said that no one should be above the law and public safety is her top priority, but then yesterday said

NEW YORK STATE OF POLITICS: Lawmakers push back on Hochul’s reluctance to end qualified immunity: Read More »

City & state: The quest to end legal protections for public employees in NY – and not just police:

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Right now, the impact of the city law remains unclear due to a lack of data to analyze yet, according to VOCAL-NY’s Keli Young, the police reform group’s civil rights campaign coordinator.  However, New York’s proposal would go further than the city’s law, and even those in Colorado and New Mexico. Unlike in those instances,

City & state: The quest to end legal protections for public employees in NY – and not just police: Read More »

FILTER MAGAZINE: HOW “DANIEL’S LAW” COULD TRANSFORM NY MENTAL HEALTH RESPONSE:

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On January 25, the harm reduction organization VOCAL-NY is holding an advocacy day in Albany, urging the passage of Daniel’s Law “to end the criminalization of mental illness and substance use disorder, especially in Black and brown communities.” Daniel’s Law would create a statewide council and numerous smaller regional or local councils, responsible for setting up “emergency and crisis

FILTER MAGAZINE: HOW “DANIEL’S LAW” COULD TRANSFORM NY MENTAL HEALTH RESPONSE: Read More »

AMNY: City Council eyes expanding CityFHEPS housing benefit program to help vulnerable New Yorkers find permanent housing:

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Celina Trowell, a homelessness organizer with VOCAL-NY, said the CityFHEPS program is “one of the most successful tools that we have in the city to try and get people out of shelters into permanent safe housing.” Trowell flagged issues and shortcomings, ranging from administrative flaws and errors when processing CityFHEPS applications, structural barriers, and long delays that

AMNY: City Council eyes expanding CityFHEPS housing benefit program to help vulnerable New Yorkers find permanent housing: Read More »

GOTHAM GAZETTE: What Wasn’t in Hochul’s 2023 State of the State Agenda:

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“The Governor’s answer to the worst overdose crisis in New York’s history is to increase penalties for fentanyl and drug-induced homicide laws that only advance the War on Drugs, rather than the fight to save lives,” said Jawanza Williams, director of organizing for VOCAL-NY, an advocacy group. “Most egregious of all: Hochul’s complete omission of

GOTHAM GAZETTE: What Wasn’t in Hochul’s 2023 State of the State Agenda: Read More »

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