By Samantha Kleinfield
Director of Special Projects, MOCJ Strategic Interventions
$10,000 versus $500,000. For one human. For one year.
$10,000 is the cost of training one individual in the high-demand field of trucking — an investment that NYC began making a year and a half ago, to connect justice-involved New Yorkers with stable careers.
$500,000 is the cost of incarcerating one individual for a year on Riker’s Island.
Given the choice, New York City will choose the former — every single time. Which is why it’s been one of the greatest privileges of my career to build Next Mile NYC from scratch, and to see it expand yet again this month.
Mayor Mamdani just announced our successful workforce development program would be expanding eligibility to the 11,000+ New Yorkers currently on probation, living in the community.
That means thousands of additional individuals — whose employment searches are often saddled with the stigma of previous arrests — now have access to life-changing career opportunities, with starting salaries ranging from $70,000 to $125,000.
From Idea to Reality
When Emerge Career co-founder Zo Orchingwa introduced us to his technology-enabled CDL training model, the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice saw the potential to change lives.
In the just two years since Next Mile NYC launched as a small pilot program, we’ve grown and achieved: 600+ commercial learner permits; 208 CDLs; 120 full-time jobs; another 83 New Yorkers weighing multiple job offers; and zero rearrests.
Take Andrew, one of our first graduates. After ten years in prison, he moved into MOCJ-funded transitional housing. Struggling to find work, he discovered Next Mile NYC, enrolling and finishing his coursework in record time.
Next Mile NYC goes beyond traditional workforce programs, taking care of:
- his tuition;
- his testing fees;
- his medical exams;
- his transportation.
Participants are also matched with success coaches on Day One, helping them to navigate the journey from training to employment.
With that support, Andrew secured his CDL, multiple job offers, and ultimately, a career in long-haul driving. Today, he’s earning more than $120,000 a year and has moved out of transitional housing into a place of his own.
At the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, we don’t just help remove the stigma of previous justice involvement — we remove the barriers that stand between great workers and great jobs.
Our participants bring the drive. We handle the rest.
The best public safety investment is opportunity. Let’s keep investing in people. 🚛
