The Legal Aid Society on Monday launched the Reentry Services Unit to support New Yorkers returning to their communities after incarceration.
Led by formerly incarcerated professionals, the pilot program works directly with clients to create personalized reentry plans tailored to their individual needs, goals and circumstances. The plans are designed to help people access essential resources, such as housing, food and clothing, and rebuilding their lives with dignity and stability.
New York State currently offers limited support for people being released, leaving many to navigate reentry alone, according to the organization. Those returning home often face employment discrimination, a lack of housing and health care and challenges reconnecting with family and community.
The new unit aims to bridge that gap by helping clients secure long-term supports like physical and mental health care, substance use treatment, life skills training and workforce readiness. Staff also assist clients in navigating bureaucratic hurdles to obtain state identification, government benefits and financial management tools. The goal is to help people reestablish family ties, build social networks and fully engage in their communities.
“Reentering the community after being incarcerated for years or decades can be an extremely overwhelming, confusing and isolating experience,” said Alexandra Shookhoff, director of Post-Conviction Legal Operations at The Legal Aid Society. “The goal of the Reentry Services Unit is to replace that confusion and isolation — caused largely by the state’s failure to provide care and support for the people it releases from prison — with a personalized, practical roadmap to success."
The team leading the unit knows firsthand what it’s like to experience fear and discrimination post-incarceration, she added.
About the Team
Seán Dalpiaz, project manager, spent seven years incarcerated before his release in 2010. With little state support after release, he struggled to find housing and spent his first two nights in dysfunctional halfway houses. Seán eventually built a career at SCO Family of Services and later became vice president of Real Estate & Facility Administration at Covenant House NY. Before joining Legal Aid, he led the Osborne Association’s Fulton Community Reentry Center in the Bronx.
NahShon Jackson, paralegal client advocate, was released in 2017 after nearly 30 years in prison. He faced major obstacles, from navigating new technology to securing housing, identification and employment. Despite employment barriers due to his conviction record, he advanced at Network Support Services, where he founded and directed its Office of Community Outreach before joining the Reentry Services Unit.
Andrea Padilla-Gonzalez, also a paralegal client advocate, grew up in South Central Los Angeles as the daughter of undocumented parents. Witnessing criminalization in her community inspired her advocacy work. After graduating from Columbia University, she focused on reentry programs and culturally responsive mental health services for justice-impacted individuals. Prior to joining Legal Aid, she worked with the New York Immigration Law & Justice Network assisting immigrants and asylum seekers with legal documentation and court filings.
