The latest from The Bail Project ... NYC contracts ... Elizabeth Seton Pediatric Center

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By Zach Williams

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The Bail Project got some national media attention on Sept. 2. NBC News featured the New York City-based nonprofit’s work in Tulsa and St. Louis and how it is helping people escape pretrial detention by paying for their bail. It’s all a matter of fairness, according to Robin Steinberg, a public defender who started the project last year.  

"Tonight, a half-million mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers are going to sleep in jail because they can’t go to an ATM and take out $500 or $1,000 to buy their freedom," Steinberg told NBC News. "But somebody who does have that ability gets to go home and kiss their kids good night? That's just not fair, that's just not just, and it's unconscionable."

Read more here and see the segment.

 

New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood joined 18 state attorneys general in filing an amicus brief with the U.S Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. The move was in support of Planned Parenthood and other health service providers who could lose funding over their support of abortions. The attorneys general argue that an Ohio law violates the First Amendment and Due Process Clause of the U.S. Constitution, according to a Sept. 4 press release from Underwood’s office. Read the full amicus brief here.

 

There’s a new vice president of operations at the Elizabeth Seton Pediatric Center. Adriene Rosell will take on the new position on Sept. 10, according to a press release from the Yonkers-based organization. She will succeed Lisa Poskanzer, who will take on a new role as “employee experience and engagement ambassador.” Rosell has worked in long-term and skilled nursing for the past three decades, most recently as the vice president for the skilled nursing facility at the Acacia Network.

 

The New York City Administration for Children’s Services has released nearly $40 million in new contract renewals. Sheltering Arms Children and Family Services received a $23 million contract for limited secure placement services for juveniles. The Children’s Village received a $15.8 million contract renewal to deliver similar services, according to the City Record. The duration of each contract is unclear.

Sheltering Arms also received a $230,769 contract from the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene for mental health services for children under the age of 5. The Department of Homeless Services got into the act by approving a four-year, $18.4 million contract to the nonprofit Women in Need. The money will fund shelter services for homeless adults at 341 W. 51st Street in Manhattan.

 

Nonprofits turned to social media to commemorate the life of Janet Weinberg, who died Sept. 1. Weinberg was known as an advocate for LGBT people and served for a decade at the Gay Men’s Health Crisis in several roles, including interim CEO. She also was an executive vice president for programs and operations at the Educational Alliance, according to the alliance.

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