Updated: 2:00 pm EST, March 04, 2022
Before Gisele Castro became executive director of Exalt, a New York nonprofit working to stem what she and others refer to as the school-to-prison pipeline, she cut her teeth at the Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Service. There, she worked to arrange alternatives to incarceration.
When she began working with 12 -to 17-years-old in the family court system, she aimed to help steer them away from paths placing them at risk for eventually landing in adult prisons.
Castro calls herself a staunch supporter of New York state’s “raise-the-age” law, which bars courts from automatically trying those under 18 as adults. She is echoing that support as New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who roundly supported the law previously, now is seeking to roll back some of its provisions.
What follows is an abridged version of Youth Today’s conversation with Castro about Exalt’s model and her take on the importance of keeping kids out of criminal court.
The conversation
Would you walk me through Exalt’s model?
We work with young people between the ages of 15 and 19 who are involved with family court, criminal court or New York Supreme Court. Our young people have been referred to us by either a judge, district attorney, defense attorney, social worker or Exalt graduates.
Once they are accepted, they are paired with a teacher and program coordinator and begin their teenage journey, starting with a six-week pre-internship model, followed by an eight-week internship where they transition to the world of work. After that, there’s a synthesis for two weeks, and then our young people transition over to the alumni component, where they work to resolve any open cases, develop a plan for any outstanding academic needs and then there is an opportunity for a second internship.
For the curriculum, we use the Socratic method. Our space feels like a college campus. As an organization, we’re saying that if we invest in young people correctly, we’re creating high value for society. We see that 95% of our young people are not re-convicted of a crime.
What type of internships do you offer and how much do the teens typically get paid?
We pay young people $17 to $20 an hour in our program. Our internship providers range from the Innocence Project, whose attorneys work to exonerate someone who has been wrongfully convicted, to an architecture firm or an art gallery.
What youth issues is Exalt currently focused on?
One is the digital divide. Our young people do not have laptops and cannot afford their data plans. We have a class on the digital divide and have partnered with Google, JPMorgan Chase and Trinity Church Wall Street to help provide for our young people. We also received funding from the Gates Foundation to hire an education advocate and a researcher to evaluate the impact and the trauma our young people are experiencing so we can better address their academic needs as well as to inform policy.
Another big issue we are focused on is vaccination. Our young people didn’t have all the information on what it means to be vaccinated. Through a grant, we began working with the state and a series of doctors to create a campaign around educating young people about vaccinations.
Is there a specific policy your organization is paying close attention to?
We are paying close attention to ‘raise the age.’ New York State’s Raise the Age law went into effect on October 1, 2018. If the arrest charge is a misdemeanor, youths aged 16 and 17 are now brought directly to family court. If the charge is a felony, the youth is to be arraigned in adult court. That felony case is sent to family court if the district attorney consents or does not oppose removal.
In the family court system, there is a life-quality assessment and analysis of a young person. The young person’s background is not seen in isolation. They look at the entire young person and what type of support an individual needs.
Do people really think it is a good idea to send a teenager to adult prison?
I don’t know. It took New York State years to approve this legislation, and then within three years, two years of which have been in COVID, we want to retreat? It looks like the legislation is being threatened. The mayor said we need to retreat on ‘raise the age,’ pointing to a pattern of increase in arrests of 16 and 17 year olds.
Why is the law being threatened?
This city was not prepared for the implications due to COVID-19 and confinement. It’s not that [most] the young people are becoming more violent and more aggressive. The conditions have changed. The school system was shut down for almost two years. Public schools and court hearings were not designed for virtual learning and as a result caused more challenges and many young people were left without resources during the pandemic. We were experiencing political and social challenges that brought serious consequences. The law is under attack because it is not understood.
Why is that law important for young people?
For generations, children – mostly from low-income and communities of color – as young as seven years old have entered the juvenile justice system, causing irreparable trauma. It has been proven that when children are heavily prosecuted, it is difficult for them to move away from cycles of incarceration, poverty and violence. [This law] is a step forward, towards true reform that gives our young people a fighting chance to avoid further criminal justice involvement.
We are seeking fair sentencing and to move young people into areas of opportunities as opposed to sanctions that can cause more harm than recovery. In addition, many arrested and detained 16- and 17-year-olds were being sent to Rikers Island, a notorious detention facility. New York is considered to be so progressive, yet we [were having] 16- and 17-year-olds sitting in Rikers Island and having their case heard by the criminal court system as opposed to a family court system. So, you know, I am very concerned.
The details
Residence: New York City.
Title: Executive director, Exalt.
Hobbies: Yoga, travel, cooking, great conversation.
Favorite international city: Rome.
Current read: “What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing,” by Bruce D. Perry and Oprah Winfrey.
Pet peeves: When technology fails.
Other work: Adjunct professor, New York University.
Prior employment: Director of family court division, Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services.
Education: Master’s of public administration and nonprofit management from Pace University.
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Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct a previous version that incorrectly stated that Gisele Castro worked at the Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Service for 25 years. The error was introduced during the editing process.
