Andra Ackerman. Photo: Facebook

Andra Ackerman made history this week when she became the first woman elected to serve as an Albany County judge, but she's also planning to build a new legacy in the position by expanding a self-made mentoring program to courts statewide.

Since that program was created by Ackerman more than two years ago, it's spread to a handful of courts in upstate New York and is likely to be adopted elsewhere in the coming years.

It's called the United Against Crime Community Action Network, or U-CAN for short. Through the program, judges pair young adults accused of a crime with mentors in their community, rather than leaving them with a criminal record. Over the course of a year, those individuals work with their mentors on steps to avoid future criminal charges.

"It's all these struggling young adults who are in our system," Ackerman said. "We want to get them out without a criminal history, but also on a better path with better self-esteem and the understanding that they can be anything they want if they believe in themselves and work hard."

When Ackerman takes office next year, Albany County Court will be the first county court in the state to implement the program, which was her brainchild for preventing repeat offenders in the city of Cohoes.

The program is personal for Ackerman. She was raised in the foster care system in the Albany area.

"I never thought I would make it this far, to be honest with you," Ackerman said. "My goal is to help other people know they can make it, too."

When she first took the bench in Cohoes City Court three years ago, Ackerman said she noticed a pattern in the young adults brought before her on criminal charges. Many of them, she said, didn't have anyone in their life to guide and support them.

She started to think about what was different in her life, in the foster care system, that led to her successful career in law. Aside from judicial office, Ackerman was a longtime prosecutor.

"I had mentors, I had stepping stones, people that just helped lift me up," Ackerman said. "They didn't stay in my life forever, but I always had somebody who noticed and gave me a lift up."

Ackerman wanted to create a program that provided the same support for young offenders who appeared before her in Cohoes City Court. And so, the U-CAN program was born.

While the program is designed to leave young adults without a criminal record, it actually starts with an agreement that they'll plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge.

But that guilty plea is made with an understanding between Ackerman and the defendant that it will disappear at some point over the next two years if they successfully complete the program. After they've "graduated," a defendant can withdraw the plea and have the crime dismissed.

Not everyone who appears before Ackerman is eligible for the program. It's only offered to young adults, from ages 19 to 25, and is not allowed for those accused of domestic violence or a sex crime.

Those accused of a violent felony also aren't eligible for the program because a minimum sentence is required in those cases, Ackerman said. But the U-CAN program often accepts individuals accused of nonviolent felonies, who can then have the crime tossed.

They meet with their mentor for an hour each week over the course of the year to evaluate their progress and talk through any issues they're having. They have to either get their GED or graduate high school during the program and are encouraged to find work.

Participants are also drug tested regularly. That's a condition of continuing with the program, which doesn't accept anyone who's dealing with an addiction, other than alcohol.

"You have to fit the right criteria," Ackerman said. "That might mean we tailor it around the right mentor and they meet at a specific location … but the neat thing is that everyone has to be on board."

In other words, individuals are only allowed into the program with the consent of prosecutors and the defense. That's led to some conflicts, Ackerman said, where prosecutors have initially resisted allowing certain people to participate.

But after that initial phase of the program, all parties cooperate and communicate with each other to make sure the individual stays on track.

"When they say it takes a village to raise a child, that's really what we try to do here," Ackerman said. "One person can't do it all, but if they have all these people around them to give them a little foot up, it's a great feeling."

It doesn't cost the state court system any money, Ackerman said. She sets aside time in Cohoes City Court once a month to review cases that are entered into the program and make sure its participants are on track to meet their goals.

A key change since Ackerman started the program is that the state's new Raise the Age law now diverts most criminal cases involving 16- and 17-year-olds to Family Court.

By all measures, she said, it's worked. Nearly three-quarters of the individuals who enter her program are deemed a success, in that they haven't violated its conditions or reappeared before her.

"It's gotten great success, and it's spreading around the state of New York," Ackerman said.

Since the program launched, it's also been set up in Family Courts in Schenectady and Warren Counties. Ackerman said she also expects it to be implemented in Albany City Court and beyond once she takes her new position.

"I will be in a position to speak to other judges around the state of New York, and encourage them, and show them the results," Ackerman said.

She already has support from Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, who gave her a shout-out in her last two State of the Judiciary speeches. That's after other judges around the state were initially hesitant to even consider her program, Ackerman said. She ignored them.

"I did it anyway, because I thought they couldn't stop me and it doesn't cost the court system any money," Ackerman said.

As for serving as the first female judge in Albany County Court, Ackerman said it's actually been a goal of hers for more than two decades.

Ackerman said she recognized when she was a special victims prosecutor in 1999 that only men were on the bench in Albany County. When that was still the case 20 years later, she jumped at the chance to break that glass ceiling.

"It is still surreal for me," Ackerman said.

READ MORE:

NY Courts Ready as Second Phase of 'Raise the Age' Law Takes Effect, Officials Say

Pro Bono Foster Care State Mentoring Program Set to Expand This Year in NY

Democrat Singas Wins 2nd Term as Nassau County DA, Katz Elected Queens Top Prosecutor

Democrats Win Seats in Brooklyn, Queens Judicial Races, But Republican Takes Staten Island Seat