Osborne Association
Osborne Association is a New York-based nonprofit that provides direct services to individuals and families affected by incarceration and advocates for criminal justice reform. Osborne has offices throughout New York—including Brooklyn, The Bronx, Buffalo, and Newburgh, White Plains, and Troy—as well as operations inside nearly all New York State prisons and New York City jails. Osborne's direct services include court advocacy and diversion programs; parenting classes, visiting, and family support; reentry and workforce development; and housing programs for people returning from long-term incarceration. Its advocacy focuses on decarceration, the rights of children and families with incarcerated loved ones, older adults in prison, and the expansion of housing options.
History
In 1913, Thomas Mott Osborne, an industrialist and former mayor of Auburn, New York, voluntarily spent a week in prison. After his experience, Osborne committed himself to reforming the American prison system from society's "scrap heap into a human repair shop," to emphasize rehabilitation rather than punishment.Dedicated to the idea of a criminal justice system that "restores to society the largest number of intelligent, forceful, honest citizens," Osborne went on to become a progressive warden at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, where the majority of the individuals released did not return to prison after finishing their sentences. Osborne also established the Mutual Welfare League and the National Society of Penal Information. The two organizations merged to form Osborne Association in 1933 to continue Osborne's work. Under the guidance of Austin H. MacCormick, a protégé of Osborne known as the “father of correctional education,” the Association pushed for education, rehabilitation, and humane conditions across the nation's prisons. For nearly four decades, MacCormick led Osborne in exposing inhumane practices and advocating for meaningful change.