Albany County leaders outline youth programs and call for Raise-the-Age fixes after July 4 shootings

A joint meeting of the Albany County Legislature—s Law Committee and Public Safety Committee on July 8 brought county leaders, law enforcement and youth-service providers together to explain the county—s juvenile-justice programming after a series of violent incidents in Albany during the July 4 holiday and to press for targeted changes to state law.

Jeffrey (Chair, Law Committee, Albany County Legislature) opened the special session by describing the July 4 events and the county—s response: "Like many people in and out of government, I was saddened, angered, and frankly, embarrassed by what happened in our community on July." He said the meeting—s purpose was to "honestly identify the underlying problems," explain what government has done and is doing, and "use all the means at their disposal to formulate and implement solutions."

The Nut Graf: County officials said Albany County has added services and funding for youth prevention and intervention since New York—s Raise the Age law took effect, but prosecutors, sheriffs and some legislators said procedural aspects of the law and related criminal-justice reforms have reduced the ability to hold some juveniles criminally accountable. Officials emphasized outreach, evidence-based programs and proposed legislative tweaks to improve public safety.

County and program overview

Deputy County Executive Mike McLaughlin and Cameron Sagan, the county—s director of policy and intergovernmental affairs, described the county—s Raise the Age planning process, the state reimbursement model and a suite of prevention and intervention programs funded by a mix of state reimbursements, OCFS prevention funding, ARPA and county budget dollars. "Funding has not been cut," Sagan said, and the county—s Raise the Age plan has grown over time, he added; county officials said the current plan increased by about $5 million compared with a prior plan and that the next plan will grow by nearly $1 million.

The county and contractors operate numerous programs,…