The Correctional Association of New York recently launched a new interactive dashboard that allows a user to see firsthand information tracking releases from state prisons.

The information is from the past 10 years, including information on releases from January 2015 to May of this year.

“Part of what this data tracking will allow us to do is to see in real time what are the results of the folks who are returning home from prison, what the release rates are looking like,” said Serena Martin, executive director of New Hour for Women and Children, which provides reentry services for women across Long Island.

Martin shares why understanding information that reveals release types and demographics is important to collect and share.

“One of the things we know about release rates is people who are Black and brown are released at lower rates than white people,” said Martin. “Yet, white people make up the majority of folks behind bars even though we don’t talk about this.”

“One of the things about prisons is that they are literally walled off from public view,” said Jennifer Scaife, executive director of the Correctional Association of New York. “That means it can be very difficult to understand who’s inside for how long, what happens to people when they’re incarcerated.”

The Correctional Association of New York is a nonprofit organization authorized by the New York State Legislature to act as an independent civilian oversight body.

Scaife shares a key takeaway the tracker has revealed.

“Whereas in the past, New York City, the five boroughs, was kind of the primary feeder of the upstate prison population, thanks to a number of criminal justice reforms in the past number of years more and more it’s the upstate counties that are contributing to the state prison population,” said Scaife.

According to the tracker, the outside-NYC share of the custody population rose from 54% in 2014 to 62% in 2026.

The information provided by the tracker is from the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

In a statement, a spokesperson says: “DOCCS remains committed to preparing individuals for successful reentry regardless of their release mechanism, ensuring they have access to programming, treatment, education, and discharge planning that support safer communities and reduce recidivism.”

The dashboard tracks release trends, not specific individuals. The information is on incarcerated individuals only, and incarcerated parolee releases, court-ordered discharges, and youthful offenders are not included.