Behind the Red Tape: Brooklyn nonprofit that has provided incarceration alternatives to thousands feeling pinch of NYC's bureaucracy
NEW YORK -- Nonprofits serving the Big Apple say they can't pay their bills because the money from city grants is just too late.
CBS2 takes a look at the effects on a Brooklyn organization that has helped thousands, providing alternatives to incarceration.
"You went from being a member of the Bloods being sent to jail for armed robbery and attempted murder to getting a BA soon and going for your master's," CBS2 pointed out to Moshe Canty, assistant director of community programs for the Center for Community Alternatives.
"This is a true story of redemption that I know with resources it can change people's lives for the better. I know that for a fact because I'm living testament of that," Canty said.
READ MORE: Nonprofits say they're not being paid due to New York City's strangling bureaucracy
Canty is the beneficiary of an alternatives to incarceration program run by the Center for Community Alternatives, one of thousands on nonprofits that rely on city funding and are being hamstrung by a city bureaucracy so filled with red tape that it can take as long as a year to get paid.
Glenn Rodriguez, a co-director of the organization, explained, "On any given year the city owes us upwards of $2 million to $3 million and it usually takes anywhere from six months to a year to get reimbursed. It definitely impacts because we're having to take out loans. Part of the money is going to interest, which is funding that should be going into these critical services that we're providing."
Canty, who spent 22 years behind bars before CCA put him on a new path, says city officials should fix the problem.
"I do believe that the bureaucracy is the red tape. The unnecessary hurdles that have to be overcome for us to be able to get the funding is just ... it's too long of a process. It could potentially save lives, but because of the bureaucracy, it is actually preventing people from getting the help imminently," Canty said.
Now an assistant director at CCA, Canty mentors people like Janasia Davis, who dropped out of school during the pandemic. He helped her get a GED and go on to college to pursue a career in the medical field.
"If the city did not fund programs like this, I would be lost. I feel I would be lost," Davis said. "I tell everybody this. Once I graduate from nursing, I'm gonna go back with my cap and gown and my degree in hand, and I'm gonna show them."
Spokespeople for both Mayor Eric Adams and Comptroller Brad Lander insist they are working to clear to backlog, but also that more work needs to be done.
CBS2 will keep covering this tangle of red tape and will follow up.
