2021 • The Nathaniel Project

The Nathaniel Project
Center for Alternative Sentencing & Employment Services (CASES)
Brooklyn, NY
In America, there are more individuals living with serious mental illness detained in jails and prisons than being served in psychiatric treatment centers. Most of these incarcerated people lack access to mental health services that could help them recover. As a result, they often are subject to violence and ongoing suffering while imprisoned, and they struggle to find their footing when released into the community.
Established in 1967, CASES (the Center for Alternative Sentencing & Employment Services) is dedicated to increasing public safety through innovative services that reduce crime and incarceration, improve behavioral health, promote recovery and rehabilitation, and create opportunities for success in the community.
In 2000, CASES launched its groundbreaking Nathaniel Project, New York City’s first alternative-to-incarceration program for adults with serious mental illness (SMI), who are facing prison as the result of felony charges. Named for a man experiencing homelessness whose mental illness went untreated as he cycled in and out of the criminal legal system for 15 years, the Nathaniel Project has earned national recognition for safely supervising and supporting clients as they work within their community to rebuild their lives.
CASES clinical staff working in the courts identify people with indications of psychiatric distress who may be appropriate for the Project. Working with the client and their defense attorney, CASES develops a plan to support the client’s return to the community. If the court agrees, sentencing is deferred pending the outcome of a 2- to 3-year treatment period, during which clients engage with CASES staff in intensive case management, court advocacy, mental health and substance-use treatment, medication management, and housing and employment services-delivered by a state-licensed mobile treatment team.
“Our partnerships are crucial to our success,” said Joel Copperman, CEO and President of CASES. “Over the past 21 years, we have worked closely with city offices and other agencies to create a replicable program that gives the courts a more just and humane sentencing option for individuals with SMI-one that is helping some of our most vulnerable citizens to reclaim their lives, while also helping to reduce crime and save taxpayer dollars.”