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Dear Ann Cammett,
Advocacy Toolkits to Combat Legal Barriers Facing Individuals with Criminal Records
The Legal Action Center and its National H.I.R.E. Network are delighted to announce
that we have constructed and posted at www.lac.org a series of toolkits that organizations and individuals all over the country
can use to advocate for removal of unfair roadblocks facing individuals with criminal
records. Click here to access the toolkits directly.
Current available toolkits include:
• Prohibit Inquiries About Arrests That Never Led to Conviction
• Standards for Hiring People with Criminal Records
• Certificates of Rehabilitation
• Sealing/Expunging Arrest and Conviction Records
Over the next several weeks, we will include 8 more toolkits on such topics as
Housing, Opting Out of Federal Ban on Food Stamps and TANF, Drivers’ Licenses,
and more.
December 2005 Issue of National HIRE Network News
For members who had a problem viewing the December 2005 National HIRE Network
news, please click here. As a reminder, newsletter archives can be viewed by clicking here.
Update: Second Chance Act of 2005
As many of you know, the National H.I.R.E. Network has been actively working
for passage of the Second Chance Act in Congress. We wanted to update H.I.R.E.
members on the legislation's status and also ask for your help in getting the
Second Chance Act to become law.
The Second Chance Act, H.R. 1704 in the House and S.1934 in the Senate, recognizes
the need for comprehensive services for the nearly 650,000 people who are released
from incarceration into the community every year. The House version of the Second
Chance Act currently has 97 bi-partisan co-sponsors. The Senate version of the
Second Chance Act has 12 bi-partisan co-sponsors. Chief co-sponsors of the House
version are Congressmen Chris Cannon (R-UT) and Danny Davis (D-IL); the Senate
version has been championed by Senators Sam Brownback (R-KS), Arlen
Specter (R-PA), and Joseph Biden (D-DE)
The Second Chance Act would reauthorize the Department of Justice's grant program
that supports reentry services for individuals being released from prisons and
jails. A number of different services, including education, job training, English
as a Second Language, and work experience programs, could be funded through these
grants. In addition, the Second Chance Act would establish a task force on Federal
programs and activities relating to reentry, support a review of other Federal
and State barriers that bar individuals with criminal records from having access
to employment opportunities, welfare benefits and housing, and establish a grants
program for community-based groups to provide mentoring to formerly incarcerated
people returning to the community.
The Senate version of the Second Chance would also improve the Workplace and
Community Transition Training for Incarcerated Youth Offenders Act by increasing
the eligibility age from 25 to 35 years, requiring State correctional education
agencies to track student outcomes to compare with outcomes of non-program participants,
and increasing the allowable expenditure per young person up to the level of the
maximum Federal Pell Grant award for tuition, books and essential materials, and
related services, including career development.
Although we had hoped that the Congress would approve the Second Chance Act this
fall, there were a number of other legislative priorities that prevented the legislation
from moving forward. We are hopeful that when Congress returns from the winter
recess at the end of January they will work towards swift passage of the Second
Chance Act. However, for that to happen, we need your help. We need additional
members of both the House and the Senate, especially Republican members, to agree
to co-sponsor the legislation. Your Senators and House Representatives need to
hear from you about how important it is for them to support the Second Chance
Act by becoming a co-sponsor.
A list of co-sponsors of H.R. 1704 and S. 1934 can be found by clicking here.
Contact information for your House and Senate members can be found at: www.house.gov and www.senate.gov . Additional information about both versions of the Second Chance Act can be
found at: http://thomas.loc.gov.
P/PV Announces a New Report
Getting Connected: Strategies for Expanding the Employment Networks of Low-Income
People, by Shayne Spaulding
Getting Connected looks at eight programs from across the country that focus explicitly on increasing
the size and quality of low-income people's networks as part of their broader
strategy. Though there is variation in how networking is incorporated into these
programs, all aim to provide participants with the ability to form connections
that will help them negotiate job change throughout their working lives.
To view the report, please visit P/PV's website.
Regards,
Glenn Martin
Co-Director
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