Red Hook Justice - Your Community. Your Court.

“You were just doing something, right? Let me take [these pieces] for now, until I get to something simple. But real strategists don’t think like that…the first thing I did was figure out the whole game…If you don’t know the strategy, nothing’s going to help you. You’re going to lose.”  Yesterday afternoon, the Justice Center welcomed International Grandmaster of chess Maurice Ashley to teach the first session of our new chess program, " Think Before You Move , " an  innovative new initiative designed to  teach critical thinking and decision-making skills to young people through the medium of chess.  A group of teens ranging in age from 12 to 17 years old and drawn from both the South Brooklyn area and our adolescent diversion and family court programs, channeled their energy and focus on deconstructing the strategy behind a series of short games. Mr. Ashley challenged his students to look beyond the simple rules he had laid out for them in order to see how br...

The Red Hook Community Justice Center (RHCJC) is partnering with International Chess Grand Master Maurice Ashley to run an innovative chess initiative called “Think before You Move” for Brooklyn Teens. The program will run for four weeks starting Oct. 25. The goal of Think before You Move is to teach critical thinking skills to young people through the medium of chess. Research has shown that chess instruction helps develop these thinking skills and prepares students to better approach problems, strengthen their personal discipline, counter negative peer pressure and exhibit greater self-control. Learning these skills through chess also helps enhance the students’ self-esteem as well as promote success in the classroom, the work-place and their personal lives. The program is open to local teens age 12-18. The program will also be an alternative diversion program for teens that have committed minor offenses and need to improve their decision making skills. Abou...

Monday was a very special night for eight court-involved Brooklyn teens. As participants in the Young New Yorkers program, these young people were given the opportunity to fulfill their court requirements by participating in a restorative justice arts program. Through a partnership with the Justice Center's Adolescent Diversion Program (ADP)--part of a statewide initiative to divert 16 and 17 year olds from criminal court and connect them to social services while allowing them to avoid the collateral consequences of a criminal record--this group of young people participated in a series of workshops centered around a c urriculum designed to develop the emotional and behavioral skills of the young participants while facilitating responsible and creative self expression.  A participant shares his experience The workshops culminate in the design of a public art installation that gives voice to the otherwise voiceless and voteless adolescents being tried in New York's adult cri...

On Tuesday, June 19th, the Red Hook Community Justice Center hosted an end-of-season Photography Exhibit for the Spring 2012 JustArts: Photography program, in partnership with the Brooklyn Arts Council . The students showcased their best work based on their perspectives on the “Culture of Brooklyn,” and presented a video about their experiences in the program. The JustArts Photography Program is part of the Red Hook Community Justice Center’s Positive Youth Justice Initiative, which reframes the conversation about juvenile delinquency.  Instead of pathologizing court-involved youth and adolescent behavior, the Justice Center works to serve all young people within a positive youth development framework, drawing on their strengths as well as their potential to contribute to their communities.  Funding is provided by the  New York State Council on the Arts  and the  Robin Hood Foundation . Teen participants create a portrait studio at the...

Thanks to a partnership with the Groundswell Community Mural Project  and the hard work of a group of dedicated youth artists, Red Hook's Youth Justice Programs room now has a beautiful new mural, "Transform." To read the story of a teen who became involved in the mural project as a result of a community service requirement assigned to him by the Red Hook Youth Court , click here . Take a look below at photos of the final product as well as the work in progress.

Last week’s spring recess from school filled the Justice Center with kids doing community service through our Adolescent Diversion Pilot (ADP) program. On Thursday, April 12 th, Red Hook’s Community Service team partnered with the Department of Transportation for a special community service project to prime and paint 600 feet of wall space on the bike path leading up to the Manhattan Bridge. Bike path before ADP youth community service work Many of the teens began the day reluctant to take time out of their vacation to tackle such a large and daunting task, but after encouragement and motivational one-on-one talks from staff, they began to encourage each other to complete the project. As the day progressed, youth shared their experiences with each other and discussed lessons they have learned from their contact with the criminal justice system.  By the end of the day, youth were able to go home proud of completing a meaningful project on a highly visible and utilized bike pat...

This week's issue of neighborhood paper the Red Hook Star Revue has a lengthy profile of  our role in the Adolescent Diversion Part (ADP) pilot, which is part of a statewide initiative to divert 16 and 17 year olds from criminal court and connect them to social services while allowing them to avoid the collateral consequences of a criminal record. Every Wednesday afternoon, staff from the Justice Center head to the Kings County Criminal Courthouse in downtown Brooklyn to participate in a collaborative process in which cases are first heard downtown by Judge Joseph Gubbay. After their disposition downtown, teens are sent to the Justice Center to meet with our clinic staff and fulfill any social service or community service requirements, or get connected to long-term treatment. Red Hook's Judge Alex Calabrese is then responsible for assessing their progress. All of the players involved in the pilot have worked tirelessly to ensure that the process is producing the best ...