Upstate Office

The Syracuse office’s recent activities include:

Parent Support Program
Everyone wins when non-custodial parents find employment, pay their child support, and develop parenting skills. The Center’s Syracuse office, in collaboration with the Onondaga County Family Court, Syracuse University's Family Law & Social Policy Center, and a community-based program known as the Parent Success Initiative, piloted New York State’s first problem-solving child support program in 2008. Using this program as a model, the Center for Court Innovation worked with the New York City Human Resources Administration, the New York City Family Court, and FEGS to launch the Kings County Parent Support Program in 2010. Both programs link non-custodial parents with needed services to increase child support payments and maintain healthy parent-child relationships. Read more.

Syracuse Community Treatment Court Enhancements
The Center's Syracuse office has partnered with the Syracuse Community Treatment Court to develop supportive services for drug court clients. For example, an English as a Second Language educator offers language classes to the court's Spanish-speaking clients. A Vocational Specialist assesses drug court clients' job readiness, refers clients to appropriate educational and employment training programs, and helps clients obtain stable jobs. A patient navigator works directly with drug court clients who are pregnant or parenting young children, helping them access needed medical services, health-related information, financial assistance, supplies, and other critical services. Together, these innovative services support drug court clients in their recovery and help them prepare for successful reentry in the community.

Adolescent Diversion Part
New York State Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman has created a series of pilot programs to handle criminal cases involving 16 and 17 year olds. Although state law treats these offenders as adults, Judge Lippman’s plan calls for these offenders to be diverted to age-appropriate services for troubled adolescents. The Center’s Syracuse office helped to plan one of these pilot projects, the Syracuse Adolescent Diversion Part, which will help adolescent offenders avoid the legal and collateral consequences associated with a criminal conviction and link them with the assistance they need to pursue law-abiding, productive futures.

Site Visits, Trainings, and Roundtables
The Center’s Syracuse office promotes justice system reform by hosting site visits to innovative courts and community-based projects in Upstate New York. Justice system professionals from federal, state, and tribal systems have visited the Center’s Syracuse office to observe these projects in action. In addition, the Syracuse office coordinates a variety of training events and roundtable discussions around justice system innovation.

For more information about the Syracuse office, contact Aaron Arnold, the office’s director, at (315) 266-4330 or aarnold@courts.state.ny.us