Brooklyn DA’s office announces new career education opportunity for underserved youth
Unique Work-Site Based Initiative Pairs Prosecutors with Young Mentees, Program Designed to Build Leadership and Career Skills
Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, together with the Boy Scouts of America Greater New York Councils Deputy Scout Executive Christopher Coscia, on Tuesday announced the Brooklyn DA’s Office Explorers Post program — a new career exploration and mentoring initiative designed to introduce young men and women to the expansive work of a prosecutor’s office and provide them with an in-depth overview of the criminal justice system.
Gonzalez said, “In Brooklyn, we recognize that our future rests in the success of our youth and by partnering with New York City Exploring, we continue to provide wide-ranging programs that strengthen community relationships and give young people opportunities to reach their full potential. Through the Explorers Post program, dozens of students will work hands-on with prosecutors to gain invaluable experience and insight into the criminal justice system, while volunteering prosecutors have a chance to learn more about the communities they serve.”
“Exploring Aims to provide positive and meaningful real-world career experiences for NYC teenagers. We are proud to partner with the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office as we launch this new innovative program,” Deputy Scout Executive Coscia said. “The Greater New York Councils, Boy Scouts of America helps New York City kids be prepared for success in school, career and life.”
Over the course of three months, beginning Tuesday the Brooklyn DA’s Explorers Post program, created in partnership with the Greater New York Councils Explorers and Learning for Life — both affiliates of the Boy Scouts of America — will host approximately 25 young men and women in five evening sessions at the Brooklyn DA’s Office. Guided by five assistant district attorneys from diverse trial zones and specialized units, the students will receive an expert overview of the criminal justice system and will be exposed to various phases of a criminal case from investigation to sentencing. Additionally, Explorers Post participants will have an opportunity to learn about the many law enforcement and legal careers that exist within the Brooklyn DA’s Office and the criminal justice system in general.
The Explores Post program will be administered by the DA’s Youth Diversion Programs Bureau and builds upon the office’s ongoing youth-centered crime prevention and educational initiatives, including the “Friday Night Lights” youth basketball program in Red Hook, an after-school chess program in Bedford-Stuyvesant and East New York as well as a series of high school internships. All of these programs help to build relationships between law enforcement and the community.
Participating Explorers Post students were selected by New York City Exploring.
Created in 1954, the Exploring program is a hands-on program open to young students between the ages of 14 and 20 years of age and seeks to provide experiences that help young people mature and prepare them to become responsible and caring adults.
—Information from the Brooklyn DA’s Office
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