According to the Vera Institute, 86% of the more than 6000 people on Rikers Island are being detained pretrial and have not had their day in court, nor been convicted of a crime. For the average taxpayers of New York City, detaining someone at Rikers Island is incredibly costly. There is another way: organizations like HousingPlus operate transitional supportive housing programs that provide an intervention in the lives of those accused of a crime. Not only can their housing and supportive services lead to better outcomes for people with a criminal charge, it is also almost ten times less expensive than a similar length of stay in jail. Learn more: https://housingplusnyc.org/programs/justice-initiatives/.

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