Parole, Division of

Note: Most recent estimates as of 01/22/08.

Mission

The Division of Parole, which consists of the Board of Parole and Division staff, is responsible for preparing eligible offenders to be released from prison, allowing for their release and setting the conditions of release, supervising those offenders in the community, and providing parolees with assistance to help them successfully reintegrate into society.

Budget Highlights

The Executive Budget recommends $226.3 million All Funds ($215.7 million General Fund, $9.3 million Internal Services Funds, $1.3 M Other Funds) for the Division of Parole. This is a $2 million increase over the prior year which primarily reflects increases for implementation of the Sex Offender Management and Treatment Act of 2007 and an expansion of re-entry services, offset in part by lower payments to local governments to board parole violators in local jails due to reform initiatives begun last year.

The Executive Budget recommends a staffing level of 2,273 FTEs for the Division of Parole, an increase of 119 from the 2007-08 budget. This primarily reflects new staff for supervising parolees in the community, with a particular emphasis on sex offenders, and the expansion of re-entry services.

Major budget actions include:

• Creating a More Effective Process for Parole Violators: Through a cooperative effort with the Department of Correctional Services, the Edgecombe Correctional Facility, located in Manhattan, will be used as a dedicated facility for parole violators. Next year, Edgecombe will hold - for up to 30 days - an estimated 1,100 parolees who have committed low level technical violations. This approach will give Parole Officers an additional tool to deal with parolees who are exhibiting negative behaviors that would have otherwise resulted in a violation of their conditions of parole, and a return to prison for an additional sentence. This new approach builds on changes to the parole violator process instituted last year, at a savings of more than $9 million. The Division will continue to work with counties to make the process more efficient and reduce the average number of days parole violators are housed in local jails.

• Safer Communities Through Effective Supervision of Sex Offenders: Parole's budget contains additional support of $7 million to implement the Sex Offender Management and Treatment Act. Significant resources are provided for field Parole Officers to utilize strict and intensive supervision of the most at-risk sex offenders, as determined by the Courts and the Division. Furthermore, Parole's budget includes nearly $6 million in funding to provide temporary housing for sex offenders released from prison. As increasing numbers of local ordinances restrict housing options for sex offenders, it has become a growing challenge for Parole to find residences which have not been deemed off limits by local ordinances.

• Increased Focus on Re-entry Services: In the coming year, the Division of Parole will concentrate on the successful reintegration of parolees back into the community. This will be accomplished through the investment of 19 new staff who will focus exclusively on linking parolees to appropriate services. Additional staff are also provided for the Re-entry Unit at the Orleans Correctional Facility and three additional Units that will be opened during 2008-09.

2008-09 Executive Budget — Agency Presentation
Parole, Division of (PDF)