Welcome!
The Center for Community Alternatives (CCA) is a leader in the field of community-based alternatives to incarceration. Our mission is to promote reintegrative justice and a reduced reliance on incarceration through advocacy, services and public policy development in pursuit of civil and human rights.
CCA serves people in trouble: youth at risk; families in crisis; people struggling to address drug and alcohol problems and HIV and AIDS; and people who have been involved in the criminal justice system who are seeking community reintegration and productive, law-abiding lives. CCA endeavors to address these issues by emphasizing personal empowerment, self-respect and concern for one's community.
Selected Articles
Book Review by Rosenthal and Warth: "A Former Insider's Guide to Parole: A Manual for Anyone Trying to Get Out of Prison" by Gerald Balone. The review was published in the NYS Defenders Association newsletter, REPORT.
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News & Events
Aspiring to the Impracticable: Alternatives to Incarceration in the Era of Mass Incarceration, Marsha Weissman, Executive Director, Center for Community Alternatives. This article appears in a recent volume of the New York University Review of Law & Social Change, Volume 33.2, 2009.
The Center for Community Alternatives thanks the Men’s Wearhouse and all the contributors of suits and other professional attire. CCA is grateful for its selection by Men’s Wearhouse as the donor site. Our participants are grateful for the generosity of the community and the support they have been given in their pursuit of employment opportunities. The donations include 45 suits, 28 sport coats, 5 pants, 1 shirt, 5 pairs of shoes, 1 belt and 100 ties. Please see our photo page.
Those opposed to the recently enacted drug law reform have seized upon a small, but important aspect of the legislation — conditional sealing — as a way to create the misperception that drug law reform will diminish public safety. Click here for an explanation of how conditional sealing can actually enhance public safety and foster New York State's commitment to reentry and reintegration.
The Rockefeller Drug Laws prevent people who would benefit from treatment from accessing treatment. Carole Eady, now a CCA Board member, was allowed to enter CCA's Crossroads treatment program, but only after extraordinary efforts to get around the difficult drug laws. Click here to watch and hear Carole tell part of her own story.