New three-year evaluation finds Brownsville Safety Alliance Situation Table successfully connected 77% of cases to services that reduced immediate crises, offering a model for neighborhoods facing interconnected challenges
NEW YORK, NY — When a family is simultaneously facing eviction, a mental health crisis, unemployment and exposure to violence, each problem typically sends them to different government agencies or nonprofits. In Brownsville, a first-of-its-kind New York City initiative is bringing those systems together.
Today, the Institute for Community Living (ICL) released the first in-depth review of the Brownsville Safety Alliance (BSA) Situation Table, an innovative model that brings more than 30 government agencies, community organizations, health providers, violence interrupters and other partners together every other week to rapidly help individuals and families experiencing multiple, intersecting crises.
The results are significant: 77% of cases were successfully connected to services that reduced the immediate crisis and addressed key risk factors.
The approach is particularly important in Brownsville, a vibrant community that has experienced generations of underinvestment and some of New York City’s most persistent health, economic and public safety disparities:
- Poverty: In 2024, 29.3% of Brownsville residents lived in poverty, according to the NYU Furman Center, compared with approximately 18% citywide.
- Violence: Brownsville’s rate of non-fatal assault hospitalizations was 126 per 100,000 residents—nearly three times the citywide rate of 47, according to the City’s 2021-2023 Community Health Profile.
- Hospitalizations: Brownsville’s rate of potentially avoidable adult hospitalizations was 2,178 per 100,000—more than twice the citywide rate of 1,075, according to NYC Health Department data.
- Mental health: Brownsville recorded 1,184 psychiatric hospitalizations per 100,000 adults, compared with 492 citywide, making it the highest rate among the City’s community districts in the City’s 2023 Community Health Profiles.
- Housing instability: In the 2023-24 school year, 19% of elementary students and 17% of middle-school students in Community School District 23, which includes Brownsville, were living in temporary housing, compared with 11% citywide in both grade groups.
- Life expectancy: Brownsville’s life expectancy was 75.1 years, compared with 81.5 years citywide, according to the NYC Health Department’s Community Health Profiles.
- Infant mortality: Brownsville had the highest three-year average infant mortality rate in New York City—7.7 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2020-22, compared with 3.7 citywide.
“These numbers aren’t separate challenges requiring their own solutions. They are interconnected. That’s exactly what the Situation Table recognizes and addresses,” said Jody Rudin, President and CEO of the Institute for Community Living. “A person worried about losing their home may also be managing a mental health condition, trying to find work and raising a child who has experienced violence. Instead of asking that person to navigate system after system, we bring the systems to them. The goal is to stabilize the crisis today and prevent it from becoming something much bigger tomorrow.”
Launched in 2023 with funding from the NYC Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, the Situation Table grew out of the Brownsville Safety Alliance’s community-led public safety work and a 2022 recommendation to create a standing mechanism for responding to the persistent crises residents were experiencing. Adapted from “Community Hub” models used in Boston and Toronto, Brownsville’s approach pairs government and community “doers”—people who can secure an appointment, move a housing application, connect someone to treatment, expedite benefits or find another way through a bureaucratic roadblock.
“Strong partnerships are essential to preventing violence and building safer communities,” said Valerie Barton-Richardson, President and CEO of CAMBA/CAMBA Housing Ventures. “The Situation Table puts that principle into practice, bringing organizations together to identify people at risk and coordinate support before a crisis occurs. Through Brownsville In Violence Out (BIVO), we know the value of trusted community relationships, and ICL’s expertise in mental health and crisis response has been an important part of this work. We welcome this whitepaper and the opportunity to highlight what we can accomplish together.”
The people reaching the Table reflect the complexity of the challenges it was designed to address. Most cases involve children ages 0-12 and adults ages 25-39. 57% of cases involved housing instability, 40% mental health needs, 32% financial challenges, 30% unemployment and 24% community safety concerns. Table cases averaged 3.3 simultaneous risk factors.
The Table is gaining momentum thanks to increased community awareness and trust. Referrals grew from five during its four-month 2023 pilot to 46 in 2024 and 52 in 2025, while active partner participation more than doubled from 15 agencies to 31.
And individual cases can lead to broader solutions. The evaluation found that the Situation Table has also identified patterns that extend beyond individual cases, including the exploitation and sex trafficking of
young people, elder abuse and unsafe housing conditions, creating opportunities for government and community partners to develop broader responses.
When several NYCHA residents facing mental health and substance use challenges were at risk of eviction because they could not complete housing recertifications, Situation Table partners didn’t simply resolve those individual cases. They coordinated an on-site visit where residents throughout the development could receive assistance with recertifications and CityFHEPS applications.
The report concludes that the Brownsville Safety Alliance Situation Table model is ready for continued investment and broader application. ICL is calling on funders and policymakers to:
- Sustain investment beyond FY27. The current ONS contract ends in June 2027.
- Leverage the model as a replicable intervention.
- Build a policy and advocacy channel to complement the BSA Situation Table model to drive policy that would convert pattern recognition within these high-risk cases into meaningful, systemic action.
- Invest evaluation funding to codify the adapted model and measure broader community impact.
“Brownsville is showing us what’s possible when we stop expecting people in crisis to navigate fragmented systems on their own,” said Rudin. “Bring the right people together, give them responsibility for solving the problem, and act quickly. That is how we help people build stability—and how we build healthier, safer communities.”
The Brownsville Safety Alliance Situation Table is led by ICL in close partnership with CAMBA’s Brownsville In Violence Out, the NYC Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety, the Kings County District Attorney’s Office and John Jay College of Criminal Justice’s From Punishment to Public Health initiative, with participation from more than 30 government and community partners, including:
Black Veterans for Social Justice (BVSJ)
BMS Family Health and Wellness Centers
Brownsville Community Culinary Center (BCCC)
Brownsville Community Justice Center (BCJC)
Brownsville Think Thank Matters (BTTM)
Coalition for Hispanic Family Services
Doral Health & Wellness
EAC Network
Fortune Society
God Squad
HELP ROADS
HELP USA
Jobs Plus
Kings County District Attorney’s Office (KCDA)
Men Elevating Leadership (MEL)
New York Foundling
New York Police Department (NYPD)
NY State Office of Addiction Services and Supports
NYC Administration for Children’s Services
NYC Commission on Human Rights
NYC Department of Education
NYC Department of Homeless Services
NYC Department of Probation
NYC Department of Social Services – Human Resources Administration
NYC Housing Authority (NYCHA)
NYC Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ)
NYC Office of Neighborhood Safety – Mayor’s Action Plan (MAP)
Office of Council Member Darlene Mealy
One Brooklyn Health (Brookdale Hospital Medical Center)
Opportunities for Better Tomorrow
RISE Project
Rise Up ENY
Riseboro Community Partnership
United for Brownsville
United Way of New York City
We Build The Block
Click here to read the full Brownsville Safety Alliance Situation Table Evaluation Report.
