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Second Chances Require a Reduction in Barriers 
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By Joseph Williams, Christian Association for Prison Aftercare
As I reported in CAPA Connections last year, I felt blessed to be present at the signing of the Second Chance Act by former President Bush during a White House ceremony. Many leading prisoner reentry professionals were present from around the country. Key national and local legislators were present at the ceremony. It was a glorious day.
Since the signing of the Second Chance Act there has been steady momentum on the behalf of many to assure that funding for the critical bill was appropriated. Now it appears that this is occurring, since President Obama appropriated millions of dollars for the 2009 fiscal year budget. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been targeted to states and faith-based and community organizations to create and strengthen programs for men and women in transition from prison and jail. Proponents of the Second Chance Act are making the case that much more funding needs to be targeted at this daunting social problem. In a nation that spends 50 billion dollars to incarcerate its citizens, a few hundred million for reentry programs is a mere drop in the proverbial bucket. I would agree that much more funding needs to be appropriated for this nation to make a real dent in the problem of prison recidivism.
Aside from the funding coming out of DC and some from a few states, the discussion surrounding the prison problem has prompted citizens in local communities to respond to the reentry crisis. A large increase of citizens are becoming aware of the unacceptably high number of men and women who are being held in our nation’s prisons and jails. More are sensing the call to do what they can in order to respond to the need. One example of this response is a conference that was recently held in Detroit. The conference was hosted by the National Progressive Baptist Convention and was sponsored by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Over 400 church leaders from across the state of Michigan filled Detroit’s convention center Cobo Hall to learn of ways churches can begin to address this issue. A number of states including North Carolina and Oklahoma have begun to host annual prisoner reentry conferences that encourage the participation of faith-based and community organizations.
Unfortunately, all this activity is occurring in the context of one of the worst economic crises this country has ever faced. In light of the state of this nation’s economy, as welcome as it is, the reentry movement, from the government side has not gone far enough in its scope. Most criminal justice professionals agree that programs for the incarcerated must begin in prison by offering life skills, soft skills classes, one on one intervention and the initiation of wrap around services available on release. They need assistance obtaining identification, preferably before they are released. Most would agree that substance abuse treatment is essential for formerly incarcerated men and women to remain free and integrated in the community. Housing, employment assistance, educational opportunities, health care, mentoring, and family reunification are all key elements of a reentry program.
The federal government and state governments have stopped short, however, when it comes to reducing collateral sanctions faced by those with felony convictions. Collateral sanctions are punishment that results from being convicted of committing a crime, but is not imposed by a judge as part of a criminal sentence. Some collateral sanctions are statutory. They include exclusion from participating in certain professions and from inclusion in government programs such as subsidized housing. Most often collateral sanctions are applied indiscriminately and block a person with a criminal conviction from the ability to re-enter society as a law-abiding citizen. This challenges the notion that a person can ever truly repay their debt to society. When collateral sanctions prevent a person who has served their sentence from fully participating in society, every sentence, no matter how short, becomes a life sentence.
Joan Petersilia is one of the leading thinkers in this country in the area of prisoner reentry. She is Professor of Criminology, Law and Society at University of California, Irvine and an advisor to the California Youth and Adult Corrections Agency. She has written extensively about re-entry issues and says that collateral sanctions can be problematic in many ways, but housing and employment are areas that are critical for ex-offenders. "The restrictions have been increasing and increasing. There are fewer jobs for which they are eligible," said Petersilia. She further stated that, “licensing requirements in many states have changed to exclude certain offenders from the types of jobs that they would typically access. Many of the jobs that formerly incarcerated people could easily qualify for in the past are now restricted because of sanctions. These are jobs that, in the past, they could qualify for -- a nail technician, carpenter, trades jobs and many of the requirements exclude as a blanket policy those with conviction records."
In January 2008 the state of Minnesota published a report in which it concluded that “ex-offenders who are barred from doing things that functional law-abiding adults do – renting an apartment, driving to work, obtaining a job, qualifying for an occupational license – are far likelier to commit new crimes than they would be if they had the options and responsibilities that most of us take for granted.”
Margaret Love, Chair of the American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Standards Committee's Task Force on Collateral Sanctions and member of the Justice Kennedy Commission and a former U.S. Pardon Attorney for the Department of Justice stated that many in the criminal justice system are starting to realize that collateral sanctions are a problem. According to Love there are many states that have always required criminal records checks and a person cannot qualify for professions in education, child care or elder care, which are potentially very good entry level jobs. Love added that there are a number of jobs in the transportation industry that are controlled by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) such as truck driving, airport employees that have now have regulations that exclude those with felony conviction from participation.
Having access to public housing is a major problem especially for female former offenders who have children. It is especially significant since most people who have a criminal record are low income. Housing in many areas of the country is very expensive. Those with criminal records can be barred from living in public housing. Without affordable, safe housing it is very difficult for formerly incarcerated people, especially women, to get their lives back on track.
These barriers loom even larger in light of the current economic crisis. Some states such as Michigan are releasing more prisoners than usual in order to balance the state budget and this is understandable. However, being released from prison into the community, under the current economic conditions, makes it infinitely more difficult for a person to make the successful transition from prison that I believe most want to experience. We all know how difficult it is to find a job these days, even if you don’t have a criminal record. Imagine what it is like for those with criminal records to compete for scarce jobs. The only chance they have to truly experience a second chance is for lawmakers to make more of an effort to eliminate many of the unreasonable collateral sanctions that block their path to success.
References:
ABA CJ Section - http://www.abanet.org/crimjust/home.html
Joan Petersilia - http://www.seweb.uci.edu/users/joan/
http://realcostofprisons.org/blog/archives/2005/07/understanding_c.html
Criminal Records and Employment in Minnesota, 1-15-2008, Report and Recommendations of the 2008 Collateral Sanctions Committee
Copyright © 2009 Christian Association for Prison Aftercare. All Rights Reserved.
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