ReServist Bill Long at Harlem Community Justice Center

Photo by Kyle Fischer

A deep commitment to mentoring young African-American men and women was key to Bill Long’s becoming a ReServist at the Harlem Community Justice Center. Long signed on in May 2008 as Education Liaison at the center, one of three centers to integrate problem-solving, neighborhood services and counseling programs into the justice system.

John Megaw, a Deputy Project Director who first interviewed Long, said he was impressed by Long’s easy confidence and his skills in working collaboratively and in mentoring. Long says, “I find it easy to mentor young men and women because that was what made a big difference in my life.” His mentor as a young man returned from Marine Corps duty was Ben Malcolm, a New York City Parole Commission officer. The Parole Commission was later abolished and Malcolm moved to the Department of Correction where, in the 1970s he was the first black American to serve as Commissioner. “I never forgot Ben’s positive influence,” Long says, “and so my tribute to him has been to mirror that support for the next generation.”

With Malcolm’s help, Bill went to college and became a teacher, working for the Department of Education for nearly 40 years. Simultaneously, for several years he was an on-call clinician for an outpatient substance abuse program. Although now retired at age 70, Bill continues to volunteer-at the Harlem Community Justice Center and as an on-call sexual assault counselor at Mount Sinai Hospital. In addition he is founder of, and a team coach in, a basketball league for young men in the Justice Center programs.

His raison d’etre at the center, however, is to work in the Juvenile Reentry Network. JRN is supported by the Robin Hood Foundation as a resource for juvenile delinquents returning to the community after up to 18 months of out-of-home placement. The JRN approach reduces re-placement for youth who complete their aftercare supervision,  during which time they are required to adhere to a plan that includes school attendance, weekly meetings before the Judicial Hearing Officer (Una Tapper, also a ReServist), and regular attendance at youth development programming through local Boys & Girls Clubs.  As the Education Liaison, Bill engages each young person’s school to track their progress and problem-solve around challenges. He reports school progress back to the JRN team at weekly case management meetings.

ReServist Bill Long at Harlem Community Justice Center

Photo by Kyle Fischer

Bill and another Reservist, Ruby Harmon, run a weekly adolescent support group, Creating Healthy Adolescent Thinking. Bill brings to CHAT his experiences as a black American male who has lived through the civil rights and black power movements of the 1960s and ‘70s; who has raised a family, earned a living-and given back to his community. Project Director Chris Watler says Bill’s leadership is “an essential connection for our youth to the history of struggle and success that has defined the black experience in America.”  For Bill, his work at the Justice Center is an essential element of his vow to repay his early mentors. “Role models like Ben helped me when I needed it, and I will never forget that,” he says.