Midtown Community Court: Addressing Social Issues in NYC - Research Paper

Introduction

Community courts are established in society to address social issues. The court serves to help bot the offenders and the community by punishing petty offenders in ways that help prevent recidivism. Midtown Community Court is an example of a community court that is located in the neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The court was established in 1993 as part of the New York City criminal court. Unlike ordinary courts, Midtown Community Court focuses on crimes that affect or are caused by the quality of life (Bornstein et al., 2016). As such, this court seeks to offer punishment to criminal offenses such as shoplifting, prostitution, vandalism, and drunkenness. The focus of this court is to provide rehabilitation services in place of jail terms that could have been offered to the offenders. The court has developed to the point where it has established centers to address social problems such as job training, mental health counselling, and treatment for drug abuse (Bornstein et al., 2016). Besides, the court works with community initiatives to ensure that petty offenders are rehabilitated back to society with the view of preventing previous offenders from engaging in crime. Midtown Community Court was the first community court to be initiated in America and has gone a long way to model the structure and how community courts should operate. The court has achieved tremendous success in crime prevention and providing alternative crime intervention strategies towards addressing criminal behavior in society.

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The Midtown Community Court runs different programs aimed at finding solutions to problems in the community and initiating partnerships with other stakeholders. The programs have ensured that petty offenders can be able to access justice and the community can be involved in efforts of restoring sanity and ethical behavior among members of the society. It is through these crimes that these crimes have been able to reduce the risk of recidivism and encourage pats offenders to engage in economic activities that will prevent them in participating in a crime (Bornstein et al., 2016). The community court has been able to establish partnerships with learning institutions, religious institutions, residents and merchants to help offenders deal with factors that lead to crime. As such, the court links offenders to institutions that offer training to offenders to acquire vital skills that would make them get employment. Besides, the court provides counseling service on psychological issues which helps offenders cope with problems in their life. Crimes that are related to drug abuse are addressed by giving rehabilitative help on drug abuse to these offenders. These programs are provided with the partnership of various stakeholders who offer opportunities to these offenders. At the end of it all, these offenders benefit from the program changing their behavior and getting back to their communities.

The Midtown Community Court was started in 1993 as part of the initiative of changing approaches to dealing with crime. During this period there was a problem of accessing justice by petty offenders. Besides, the majority of the communities were facing challenges that could have been solved through community efforts. As such, most petty offenders ended up in jail for social problems that could have been addressed by the community by directly offering help to these offenders (Bornstein et al., 2016). As such, the residents of Manhattan in New York came up with the idea of a community court that would allow the community to be engaged in finding solutions to problems in society. The community identified the role it would play in preventing criminal behavior and rehabilitating offenders in society. It became evident through the findings on the causes of crimes in a society that specific issues in society prompted criminal behavior. The court was established as part of the community initiative of addressing the root of the problem to help offenders deal with the source of their behavior (Bornstein et al., 2016). The process of creating the court was faced with challenges, but it ultimately saw the light when its efforts bore fruits. The court has been able to relieve the ordinary courts by handling petty crimes. Besides the approach of using community service as a punishment for these crimes has been lauded by authorities since it helps the offender's to see the need for leaving criminal behavior.

There are different goals under which the Midtown Community Court was established. These goals served to address the problem of accessing justice and solving critical issues in society. The court was initially founded to offer efficient access to justice in the community. Besides, access to justice would have helped to prevent further criminal activities by finding solutions to the sources of crime in society. It is through the goal of efficient justice that the court would be able to develop partnerships with various stakeholders to find their input towards developing cohesive society (Bornstein et al., 2016). The contribution of these stakeholders saw the court develop additional programs aimed at helping offenders find solutions to their problems. It is through this goal of facilitating access to justice that court was able to come up with community programs that could persuade ordinary courts to give authority to these courts to administer justice in a manner that could improve integration and peaceful coexistence among community members. The goals of the court have been changing with the changes in the dynamic nature of social problems faced by members. Access to justice is an issue that has continuously prevented efforts of eradicating crime in society. The community court has addressed this challenge giving opportunities to hundreds of offenders to express their problems and find solutions to their issues.

Ever since the Midtown Community Court was established, it has achieved tremendous success in improving access to justice and promoting community rehabilitation. According to the research by Court Innovation Organization, the Midtown Community Court was able to able to hear 19,646 cases out of which 8,448 and 11,198 were misdemeanor and summonses cases respectively (Bornstein et al., 2016). The number of the cases heard and determined by the court were enormous which could have made it harder for ordinary courts to handle. The same court further limited the number of jail sentencing from 18% to 10% within this period (Bornstein et al., 2016). This court also reduced Time-served sentences to 4% from 21% (Bornstein et al., 2016). The court proposed the use of community service as a punishment in place of traditional jail terms. During the year, 78% of the offenders that were able to complete their community services which were the record high for any community court in America. In 2015, 24,842 hours of community service was completed by defendants accused at the Midtown Community Court (Bornstein et al., 2016). These offenders were also enrolled in programs aimed at painting graffiti that could sensitize the community on the need to avoid crime. The UPNEXT Midtown Court's onsite job training managed to enroll 237 participants who saw 66 participants being placed on jobs that paid $10.75 an hour (Bornstein et al., 2016). The court also advanced its jurisdiction by handling cases involving 16 and 17-year-old offenders (Bornstein et al., 2016). The launch of the program Adolescent Diversion Program helped to address the social problems faced by teenagers in this community. Overall, the court has achieved success in preventing crime and creating awareness on the need to promote a crime free society. The launch of different programs targeting different groups has been the highlight of the success of the court.

There are different community service options available to Midtown Community Court. The court has been able to establish the core causes of criminal behavior and has partnered with various organizations to offer services that could help solve these issues. The leading service provided by the court is the social services clinic. The clinic combines clinical, educational and employment services geared towards reducing incarceration and fines to the petty offender. The clinic provides specialized services including mental health counseling and treatment (Feeley, 2013). Under this service, the court identifies individuals whose problems are connected with their psychological wellbeing. The counseling services aim at helping thee people develop strategies for dealing with stressful situations in their lives. The educational services give opportunities to offenders to purpose the path of education. As such, the court sponsors different offenders to go to school and acquire skills that could help them change their lives. The employment opportunities created by the court are made possible through onsite job training. It is through the training that one can acquire the requisite skills to be employed in different sectors. These services worked to reduce crime and promote public trust towards the alternative justice system. These services have been able to reduce the recidivism rate significantly. It is estimated that recidivism rates have decreased by 65% in the last decade in the locality of Midtown Community Court.

The establishment of the Midtown Community court has had a positive impact on the community. There has been a change of attitude towards community courts in place of conventional courts. Previously, the community though that disputes could be handled by the justice system that relied on the rule of law. However, the success of the efforts of this community court has seen a reduction in the rate of crime and the rate of recidivism (Lang, 2016). The community now have a positive attitude toward community justice. The court has also reduced crime in this region which means that the community can now live without any form of fear (Gavin & MacVean, 2018). The efforts to solve the root cause of criminal behavior has seen the rate of crime reducing significantly. Besides, the community has enhanced the awareness towards finding a solution to their problems. The solution and administration of justice through community service allows the community to take part and interact with offenders in ways that promote integration. The positives that have been felt by the community outweighs the negative. The move by the court to administer justice has the society means that the contribution of the single member of the community is implemented and felt by the community as a whole.

The court works with social service clinics, fatherhood, and workforce development program in partnership to find solutions to issues facing society. The social services clinics work in identifying social problems that can be solved through clinical intervention and educative initiatives within the society. Social issues that lead to criminal behavior are rooted in psychological issues facing society. The primary social services offered in these clinics are drug abuse rehabilitation and mental health treatment. Individuals who engage in crimes associated with drug abuse receive help when they are recruited into programs that offer rehabilitative services (Lang, 2016). The rehabilitation allows these offenders to quit drug abuse and focus on other things that would directly help them to grow socially. The mental health programs provide treatment and counseling session to individuals whose problems are psychological. The court has identified their causes of crime to lack of psychological help and the intervention to receive this kind of support goes a long way to solve the crime. The fatherhood program aims at providing training to non-custodial fathers to be able to take up the responsibilities of fatherhood (Ross, 2015). The progr...