Congratulations. You’ve been granted parole. You’ve put in the work while locked up. Reconciled with what you’ve done. Either that or you fed the parole board a lot of bullshit and finessed them. Truthfully, it don’t matter… We can’t do anything from here but help you on the straight and narrow… Notice I didn’t say “KEEP” – that’s right, because we can’t force you to do anything – that part’s up to you. Feel free to click around
Welcome back to the streets… And welcome to...
PLAY ME
Parole • Reform • Re-entry • Community Supervision • Reform • Re-entry • Community Supervision •
Conditions of Your Parole
A message from P.O. Elia:
You’re probably saying to yourself, “I’m FREE!” Yeah… not exactly. Before we get into it, let me walk you through the conditions of your parole. Hopefully you enjoyed your stay at Rikers Island motel, or Sing Sing Inn, and hopefully you had friends or family to pick you up at the gate. If not, you’re going to be taking a bus ride back into Queensboro Plaza equipped with $20 and a single-ride MetroCard. Sounds insane, right? We don’t like it any more than you guys, but more on that later. Enjoy your first night out, but not too much because you’ll have to report to the office and meet with your parole officer bright and early. And don’t be late, man — I’ve heard every excuse in the book from the table of contents to the epilogue. First impressions are everything.
I’ll give you the rundown — get a stable place to stay, get a job, no drugs, no drinking, no felonies. Together, we will figure out your plan to keep you on track. Just do me a favor: when you come to the office, leave your knife at home. You’re going to walk through a metal detector, and unless you’re a butcher, I know it’s not for work.
The bottom line is we are not cops, and I’m sure as shit not your correctional officer babysitter.
Cops monitor and charge criminals for their crimes. Correctional officers just monitor criminals. Being a parole officer is to be given a chance to correct the system. We get to take a look at how you can actually affect criminals and help them. Think of us like social workers… only with a loaded Glock 19 on our hips…
I’m here to help.
— P.O. Eileen Elia
COMPAS Risk Assessment
[01]
This assessment will determine your future level of supervision based on age and history of incarceration.
Pre-Release Paperwork
[02]
Submit your formal parole application through the official NY DOCCS portal.
Immediate Community Reporting
[03]
Upon release, you are required to report to your community supervision officers.
[04]
Parole Intake & Special Conditions
The assigned parole officer reviews your conditions and sets reporting schedule based on COMPAS score.
Parole • Reform • Re-entry • Community Supervision • Reform • Re-entry • Community Supervision •
Resources & Services
We offer expert navigation and strategic support for every individual within the NY DOCCS system.
Explore the links below to access the re-entry resources and professional services provided.
About the Show
LOGLINE:
Operating out of a crumbling Brooklyn field office, an ex-Marine parole officer leads a squad of equally overwhelmed P.O.s in a relentless street-level community supervision triage, battling a hostile NYPD and bending the rules of a broken system to keep her suffocating caseload of fifty ex-cons alive and out of prison.
“SECOND CHANCE CLUB” is a one-hour serialized drama focusing on one of the most important yet overlooked steps of the criminal justice system: post-incarceration community supervision, also known as parole.
Tonally, think the relentless chaos of "Good Time" meets the bureaucratic intensity of "The Night Of". It’s anxiety-inducing, gritty, and grimly sarcastic, while bursting with the specific absurdity of New York City.
This is not just another cops & criminals show — it portrays the struggle of everyday people who have resorted to a life of crime and the unsung overworked heroes who are tasked with helping them reintegrate into the community once released from prison and dropped off at Queensboro Plaza with a 20-dollar bill and a single-ride MetroCard.
That’s not to say they won’t be at odds — parole officers are responsible for making tough decisions that their clients won’t agree with and conversely, the clients will be forced to make choices that will, in turn, leave their community supervisors with no choice but to take legal action.
The conflict will stem from the systemic battle that people assimilating back into society face, typically lacking the resources to change their circumstances. We will explore mental health crises, substance abuse, affordable housing shortages, educational and financial gaps, and the effect gentrification has on a community.
Oftentimes, we will find that the community itself is responsible for people acting outside of their parole conditions. For example, because there is a lack of beds available at sober houses, a person with a substance abuse issue will have no other choice but to move back in with a heroin addicted ex-boyfriend. The new “Less Is More Act” forces a parole officer to wait a mandatory 48 hours before issuing a warrant for a missing, even troubled parolee, which in some cases becomes a matter of life or death.
It sounds heavy, but New York City is ridiculous. I’ve woken up to a half-eaten corn cob on my stoop, seen a guy run down the street with a loaded revolver, gotten on a train that got stopped due to people subway surfing on top of the car, then watched a couple get divorced on the street while some kids set off fireworks on the corner. And that was just on a Thursday. It’s almost unbelievable, but too specific to be made up, which will add levity through comedy – like a realistic depiction of a GTA server, so to speak. All while also portraying the gritty realities and intense pressures of parole, an angle of the criminal justice system that has never been explored to this degree on screen.
Parole • Reform • Re-entry • Community Supervision • Reform • Re-entry • Community Supervision •
Get to know your officers
P.O. Eileen Elia (30s)
An ex-Marine from Woodlawn in the Bronx, Eileen spent the past eight years of her life driven by purpose as a soldier, but now that she’s out? She’s lost. She used to command a squadron, and now there’s no formation for her to stand in. Even a year out of the corps, Eileen is completely adrift, returning to her new life as a civilian… In a lot of ways, she finds it easier to relate to her parolees who are reacclimating to the community more than her coworkers. However, this gives her an insight that not a lot of officers understand. She understands what it’s like to try and fit back into a world you don’t feel like you belong to anymore. And while nobody has a perfect track record, Eileen has a gift for finding resources to help even the toughest of clients. She’s fair, but in no way a pushover – her motto is: “I’m not going to work harder than you, but I am going to work hard for you.” Eileen became a parole officer as a stepping stone to join the NYPD, but it's been a year, and she hasn’t taken the NYPD entrance exam yet. Maybe this is her calling after all? Over the course of the season, Eileen will take bigger chances for her clients, bending the rules to a breaking point and ultimately risking her own career.
P.O. Charles Cruz-Desintonio (40)
A homegrown boy from Red Hook, Brooklyn, Charles was an exceptional student athlete at SUNY Albany where as a sprinter, he set records for the 200 and 400 meter. Charles’s father was a parole officer and instilled the sense of discipline that allowed him to excel at sports and academics. Although most officers get overwhelmed by their caseload, Charles easily handles his clients and prioritizes them on a need basis guided by his simple philosophy: “There’s always a way.” He has a more progressive way of dealing with his clients and will exhaust all options before violating them and sending them back to jail. Charles’s more lax viewpoint is thrown into violent disarray just as he becomes a first-time father. A client of his, whom he gave leeway to after a potential violation, dies due to his leniency which thrusts him toward rigid cynicism… Right as he discovers Eileen has been operating outside the rules in a way that goes against everything he is beginning to believe.
P.O. James Drago (late 30s)
Born and raised in Howard Beach, Queens, Jimmy looked up to his father and uncles who were cops. His whole life, he dreamed of one day wearing an NYPD detective badge, however those dreams were shattered during an entry vision test in which he found out that he was severely color-blind. A lingering bitterness propels his no-nonsense approach with his clients. Jimmy is also the only current officer who has been stabbed by a parolee. Not to victim-blame… but one can’t help but wonder if it was his fault… Nevertheless, the trauma of this left him paranoid. He’s constantly on edge and in fear of running into a former parolee he sent back to jail in his own neighborhood while off duty. His anxiety runs so deep that he has a code word with his wife to take the kids and go to her mother’s house if shit pops off. His unflinching sense of right and wrong is part of the reason he butts heads with his clients in a job where things are hardly ever black and white. His inflexible moral compass and constant nerves threaten to spark war when a routine home visit escalates into a full-blown crisis forcing himself to look at his tactics.
P.O. Tina Torro (40s)
Tina is a former C.O. at Rikers Island who’s first day as a P.O. is our first episode. She spent years operating in a volatile world filled with unyielding restrictions, head counts, and locked cells where if offenders didn’t listen, they were getting punished. Needless to say, the transition to parole officer is a bit of a culture shock for her. It will take her time to view parolees through a different lens than she did inmates. Initially, she will default to her prison guard instincts, slapping on cuffs when in a conflict instead of the “verbal judo” taught in training to de-escalate. Tina will be our entryway into this complicated world. She’ll be paired with P.O. Elia, who will teach her how to swap her institutional physicality for for the street-smart tactics that will garner better results for herself and her parolees.
P.O. Desiree Montague (30s)
Hailing from Bushwick, Brooklyn (before it became a haven for people with blue hair and septum piercings), Desiree is street-smart yet chaotic. If “messy” were a person, it’s her. She operates solely on charm and intuition, which allows her to navigate even the most turbulent situations with relative ease. This is a world she grew up in and runs into cousins while doing house visits around the borough. However, for Desiree, the line between community supervisor and personal ally is often blurred not only due to the inherent relationship an officer must forge with their parolees, but also due to her intimate style. Desiree is three months pregnant, and there are rumors floating around the field office that the father is one of her parolees. As her pregnancy becomes impossible to hide, she will precariously balance internal affairs investigations and the pressure from the streets to keep her life from imploding.
P.O. Malik Blackwell (mid 30s)
Originally from The Bronx, Malik comes from a home that deeply valued public service. His mother worked as a Borough representative for local government, and his father was a public school teacher. Malik cut short a brief stint playing fullback in the NFL for the New York Giants to follow in his parents' footsteps, beginning as a social worker for Administration for Children’s Services (ACS). During his time there, he developed the core philosophy that there are no bad kids – only bad parents. Realizing that so many of the parents he investigated during his time at ACS had some sort of connection to the Department of Correction and Supervision, Malik decided that his best bet to make a difference was to target those who were at a crossroads in their lives – change or go back to jail and repeat the cycle. He is fiercely progressive, but as strict as they come, thinking that people are in charge of their own destiny, and that no matter where you come from, there’s always a way to turn things around.
The Judges
Judge Price
A veteran Jewish Democrat who lives in a brownstone on Lennox Ave. in Harlem. Aggressively utilizes the “Less Is More” Act due to his belief that mass incarceration rectifies nothing. Let me tell you something: if you’re headed to court on a violation, thank whoever you pray to if you see this man behind the bench…
Judge Reznick
The definition of old-school hard ass. He believes in the rules and will sign a warrant over a dead GPS battery or a failed piss test. Word on the street is that in the pocket of private prison contractors – someone claims they saw him dining on their dime at Peter Lugers. Whatever the case is, he’s the biggest threat to Eileen’s parolees.
Parole • Reform • Re-entry • Community Supervision • Reform • Re-entry • Community Supervision •
Absconder Warrants
Most parolees choose to follow the rules... Those who don't maintain regular contact with their parole officer and actively avoid supervision by making their whereabouts unknown are known as ABSCONDERS. NY State requires parole officers to handle their own warrants. They're responsible for tracking down absconders and deciding whether or not to send their ass to jail... Below are just some examples of our city's finest.
"Ready or not, here I come, you can't hide..." *Fugees voice*
Parole • Reform • Re-entry • Community Supervision • Reform • Re-entry • Community Supervision •
Season One Arcs
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Over the course of season one, Eileen will take bigger chances for her clients, bending the rules to a breaking point and ultimately risking her own career. Cedric will discover Eileen’s unrecorded risks which are keeping some of her parolees alive by sending them to jail, but will be deeply conflicted as it fundamentally goes against his belief in giving people the free will to make the right decisions. However, right before reporting Eileen to internal affairs, Charles’ philosophy will crumble his eyes when he gets a call that a client’s son, who Cedric afforded leeway to, overdosed. Only knowing the last name, Cedric travels to the morgue, expecting it to be the father, but is devastated to find out it’s the son. Soon after, Cedric will welcome his son into the world and realize Eileen may have a method to her madness…
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Drago’s paranoia will reach a fever pitch when he has a terrifying confrontation at a pet store with the brother of a parolee he sent back to prison years prior. The encounter ends with the brother casually dropping Drago’s home address which freaks him out. He enacts his emergency code word to his wife who doesn’t understand why he stays on the job if it brings him this much stress. She departs and heads to her parents leaving Jimmy isolated, worried and depressed. But for Jimmy, the reality is stark once we see him among his father and brothers who are cops – he desperately needs to be part of this life, but he’s finally forced to ask himself if he’s even built for it.
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Tina will shed her rigid habits as a prison guard in favor of her verbal judo training from Eileen, eventually becoming Eileen’s most trusted field partner. At the same time, the caution and vigilance she developed as a correctional officer will be an unexpected point of connection between herself and P.O. Drago – a bond that dangerously toes the line as Jimmy’s marriage frays.
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As Montague’s pregnancy becomes impossible to hide, she will precariously balance internal affairs investigations and the pressure from the streets to keep her life from imploding when it’s revealed that the father is one of her parolees who is about to be successfully discharged.
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Malik Blackwell discovers that a group of his clients are being hit with petty violations and sent back to jail. When digging deeper, he realizes that all of these targeted parolees share a common thread: they are from rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods. Malik realizes that there’s another commonality… Judge Resnick seems to be behind all of them. Malik decides to actively work to uncover what seems to be a massive conspiracy…
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Toward the end of the season, Eileen gives in to her burnout and finally takes the test, the NYPD entrance exam. In the finale, right as chaos in the office peaks, she will get a call from the NYPD: there's an opening at the academy for her…
Future Seasons
When Eileen is offered the Bureau Chief position, she will decide to turn down the NYPD academy to focus on community supervision. Meanwhile, Cedric will go through the trials of being a new father and finally forgive himself for the overdose of his young parolee that shattered his world view. Under Eileen’s new leadership structure, the office will split into two factions of supervision style – strict and progressive.
These opposing camps will remain locked into their own ideology and will constantly be at odds with one another continuously trying to prove that their way is the only way to keep the parolees and the community safe.
Parole • Reform • Re-entry • Community Supervision • Reform • Re-entry • Community Supervision •
A final reminder...
Here are a few more "bright ideas" to avoid while on parole...
Now that's all been settled, thank you for reading and cooperating throughout this journey.
We believe in you, but that's only half the battle. Good luck.
