With encouragement from the Correction Commissioner and Board of Education, the founders determined to build

The Eric M. Taylor Center (above), to which the Austin H. MacCormick Island Academy is attached, houses male inmates serving sentence under a year. While the jail's mail address is 10-10 Hazen St., East Elmhust, NY 11370, the Academy address is 18-00 Hazen St. Its phone number is (718) 546-6200.

a bridge of services between Rikers Island and the community so as to open a path toward stability and to steer these youth toward a securer future despite the instability and insecurity of their world.

In deciding on the services that their organization would seek to provide, the founders clearly recognized what was needed:

1. On-Island school-based services

Staff, consisting of one or two professionals, working in conjunction with the schools.  Their responsibilities would include:

1. Preparing the youngsters for discharge, resume writing, job search, etc.
2. Meeting regularly with groups prior to discharge to explain community-based services, which would be housed in one facility, avoiding the pitfall of compelling these youngsters from going agency to agency in the community for diverse services.
3. Explaining mentoring and recruiting mentors for those youngsters who requested a mentor and could benefit from a mentoring relationship.
4. Developing a mentoring manual.
5. Serving as a counselor/role model for this population.
6. A key component was and is that the incarcerated youngsters would

   The Rose M. Singer Center (above), in which the Rosewood High School is situated, houses NYC DOC's female inmates. The mail address for both the jail and the school is 19-19 Hazen St., East Elmhust, NY 11370. The school phone number is (718) 546-7562.

   meet the same FOIA staff on Rikers Island that they will be working with in the community upon their release.  Worker-client bonds are, therefore, pre-established.  The long range goal was to have a successful ex-offender youth fill these positions.

2. Off-Island community-based services

An accessible site away from Rikers providing the following:

1. Mentoring
2. Preparation for and registration in school (all levels)
3. Job readiness workshops
4. Job placement
5. Case management
6. Counseling
7. Group work

   The Adolescent Reception and Detention Center (above), in which the Rikers Island Educational Facility is situated, houses DOC's adolescent male inmates. The mail address for both the jail and the school is 11-11 Hazen St., East Elmhust, NY 11370. The school phone number is (718) 626-7835.

8. Exposure to sports, entertainment and cultural opportunities.
9. Tuition assistance
10. Transportation money
11. Internships
12. Referrals for housing, medical, mental illness services, etc.
13. An equipped home-based recreational room of their own in FOIA offices.
14. Transitional housing