Bronx Community Solutions

Operating out of the centralized criminal courthouse in the Bronx, Bronx Community Solutions is one of the nation’s most ambitious experiments in going to scale with problem-solving justice.

Enhanced Sentencing Options

Judges in the Bronx are provided with a broad set of sentencing options, including drug treatment, job training, family services, and mental health counseling. To view a screening tool used to assess participants' social service needs, click here.

Early Diversion

Police and prosecutors are empowered to divert low-level cases from criminal court through Project Reset: Bronx Community Justice, a diversion program that is proportionate, effective, and restorative. Through the program, participants avoid the possibility of a criminal record by completing community-based restorative justice programming.

Community Service

Participants are assigned to community service work in neighborhoods throughout the Bronx. Our staff work with residents and community groups to create service projects that respond to local problems (for example, trash in a local park or walls marred by graffiti).

Accountability

By quickly assigning participants to social service and community service sentences – and rigorously monitoring their compliance – Bronx Community Solutions sends the message that community-based sanctions are taken seriously.

Community Engagement

Bronx Community Solutions invites community groups and local residents to play a number of concrete roles in ongoing operations, including identifying hot spots and eyesores for community service projects, and participating in a neighborhood advisory board.

Each year, Bronx Community Solutions handles upwards of 8,000 cases. In 2013, New York City credited the program with contributing to a more than 40 percent reduction in the number of jail sentences for defendants convicted of misdemeanors in the Bronx.