Rebuilding Lives. Strengthening Communities.

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Offer professional development to existing education and employment agencies to better serve individuals with criminal records. Recommendation Solution Community-based education and employment agencies provide one of the best avenues for reentering prisoners to obtain needed job placement assistance on their road to economic self-sufficiency. MAYORAL POLICY CAUCUS ON PRISONER REENTRY Issue Many former prisoners rely on community-based organizations, churches and other faith-based organizations, One-Stop Career Centers, and community colleges for employment assistance upon reentry. Working with formerly incarcerated clients involves a nuanced understanding of their criminal record, situation, emotional state, and multiple and interconnected barriers. Too often, however, professionals in these agencies are not wellinformed about the specific needs of formerly incarcerated individuals, are not well-equipped to assist with their employment preparation or job search, and do not appreciate their unique circumstances. In some cases, staff at education and employment agencies may not possess the specialized skills or be adept at working with formerly incarcerated clients, and may be perceived as not wanting to work with them. For example, job developers and case managers may not understand how to read an individual’s criminal history record (“rap sheet”) and may misinterpret what such a record means for future employment. They also may not fully know how to navigate the intricacies of the criminal justice system and obtain crucial judicial remedies (e.g., expungement and record sealing, or Certificates of Relief from Disability or Certificates of Good Conduct) for their clients. The City should coordinate with professionals who have expertise in both workforce development and prisoner reentry to design and conduct trainings specifically tailored to serving formerly incarcerated individuals. These trainings should encompass interactive workshops to infuse sensitivity toward reentry issues in order to help job developers better understand the prison culture and the unique circumstances of former prisoners, and give job developers concrete tools to help their clients. Advocacy organizations in Chicago have formed the Criminal Records Collaborative, and have already devised an innovative curriculum with various modules along these lines. 100 In 2004, the City worked with the Collaborative and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) to provide technical assistance to staff of nine LISC-funded employment resource centers. They facilitated a workshop to educate staff about criminal records and the reentry process, covering topics such as the stages of the criminal justice process, potential judicial remedies “My son was placed in a halfway house after prison, but couldn’t find work. It wasn’t long before he could no longer afford even the small monthly rent demanded of him, and the halfway house asked him to leave. How is he going to pay rent when he doesn’t have a job That right there is pressuring him to go out and do wrong.” Carolyn Nance Mother of formerly incarcerated son 38
(e.g., expungement, sealing of records, reading a rap sheet), and the challenges of working with this population. 101 This training could easily be expanded to include any social service provider or economic development organization. The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) has partnered with the Chicago Jobs Council to develop and maintain a website for frontline staff who serve individuals with criminal records. The site was launched in October 2005 on IDES’ website and features four sections: (i) “Working with Clients” includes information on intake and assessment, job readiness, and job retention; (ii) “Working with Employers” includes common misperceptions regarding hiring people with criminal records, ways to demonstrate rehabilitation to employers, and descriptions of the benefits and incentives available to employers who hire the formerly incarcerated; (iii) “Resources” includes information on criminal records and rap sheets, occupational bans and waivers, public benefits and work supports, common terminology, a bibliography, and helpful links; and (iv) “RESP” includes information about IDES’ Reentry Employment Service Program, including workshop tools, presentations, and a contact list. “I value honesty the most. Although I may look at an individual’s record, if they are honest about their criminal background, the criminal history most often becomes a non-issue.” Bill Conway Human Resource Manager, Cameo Container According to Lisa Hampton, Senior Policy Associate of the Chicago Jobs Council, “Our goal is to encourage workforce development frontline staff, job seekers and employers to use the website as a basic resource. However, we want communities to expand their use of this website to examine local needs and gaps in providing information to employers and job seekers, and to consider how services get accessed and what supports locally are available.” 103 Expand access to and availability of legal resources to formerly incarcerated individuals for assistance in expunging and sealing their criminal records. Recommendation Issue Any person who has ever been arrested has a record of their criminal history (“rap sheet”). The state and federal governments compile this information into comprehensive repositories. The Illinois State Police maintains the state’s criminal record repository, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation maintains the federal one. Thousands of Chicagoans have rap sheets with only minor misdemeanor convictions or with no convictions at all. Rap sheets include arrests where the person was never charged, charges that were later dismissed, or charges where the person was found not guilty. These rap sheets are public record and may be preserved indefinitely. They are accessible to employers, and may significantly impact an individual’s employment prospects. Under Illinois law, some individuals are eligible to have part or all of their arrest or conviction history sealed or expunged. 104 Both of these processes require that the criminal history be made confidential, essentially removing the individual’s criminal history from public view. Sealing of records protects the information from public access; however, it is still available to law enforcement agencies. Expungement requires that the arresting agency, the Sheriff’s Office, the State’s Attorney’s Office, and the courts physically destroy the records. The process for sealing or expungement is complicated, time consuming, and potentially expensive. Applications must be filed with the local and state police, the State’s Attorney’s Office and the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County. In some cases, the process takes over a year to complete. MAYORAL POLICY CAUCUS ON PRISONER REENTRY 39
Page 1 and 2: Rebuilding Lives. Restoring Hope. S
Page 3 and 4: Message from the Mayor The issue of
Page 5 and 6: Introduction The Reality of Reentry
Page 7 and 8: Communities Too many communities ar
Page 9 and 10: A National Movement, A Nonpartisan
Page 11 and 12: The Mayoral Policy Caucus on Prison
Page 13 and 14: Theresa W. Theresa W. is a 25-year-
Page 15 and 16: Ramon C. is a 51-year-old Real Life
Page 17 and 18: Chapter 1: Employment Formerly inca
Page 19 and 20: The current need for IDOC’s educa
Page 21 and 22: Ensure pre-release vocational train
Page 23 and 24: Restructure and expand Illinois Cor
Page 25 and 26: While the passage of this legislati
Page 27 and 28: IDOC is currently re-examining the
Page 29 and 30: Solution To increase employment opp
Page 31 and 32: Solution To be most effective, educ
Page 33 and 34: Issue Encourage more “demand-side
Page 35 and 36: Promote and support transitional jo
Page 37 and 38: Promote and support social enterpri
Page 39: Foster more opportunities for entre
Page 43 and 44: Sandra S. is a 38-year-old African-
Page 45 and 46: Marvin A. Marvin A. is a 64-year-ol
Page 47 and 48: Chapter 2: Health By most measures,
Page 49 and 50: “This is the best chance to locat
Page 51 and 52: Similar to substance abuse treatmen
Page 53 and 54: Solution Connections to community-b
Page 55 and 56: Solution Initially, the State shoul
Page 57 and 58: Medicaid does not pay for services
Page 59 and 60: To ensure the greatest return on in
Page 61 and 62: Solution Diversion programs and alt
Page 63 and 64: Create more positive social structu
Page 65 and 66: Margaret M. is a 55-year- old Latin
Page 67 and 68: Sam J. is a 41- Real Life year-old
Page 69 and 70: Chapter 3: Family Having a supporti
Page 71 and 72: Improve visitation facilities and p
Page 73 and 74: Issue Facilitate contact between pr
Page 75 and 76: Review policies regarding child sup
Page 77 and 78: Reforms with Citywide Impact Suppor
Page 79 and 80: Improve reunification services at C
Page 81 and 82: Support more mentoring and other so
Page 83 and 84: Billie H. is a 41-year-old Real Lif
Page 85 and 86: Shannon G. is a 33-year-old African
Page 87 and 88: Chapter 4: Community Safety Prisone
Page 89 and 90: Ensure that prisoners have appropri
Page 91 and 92:
Expand capacity and number of Adult
Page 93 and 94:
However, with the dramatic increase
Page 95 and 96:
N City of Chicago 2004 Inmate Exits
Page 97 and 98:
Solution The goal of “justice rei
Page 99 and 100:
Solution The City, in partnership w
Page 101 and 102:
Internet. This vehicle allows for i
Page 103 and 104:
Solution The City should work with
Page 105 and 106:
Solution Local “reentry resource
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For example, in Oregon, Deschutes C
Page 109 and 110:
A Note of Thanks Many people worked
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Ms. Ellen A. Meyers, Office of Illi
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Endnotes Introduction MAYORAL POLIC
Page 116 and 117:
Introduction (cont.) 46 Bush, Georg
Page 118 and 119:
Chapter 1: Employment (cont.) MAYOR
Page 120 and 121:
Chapter 1: Employment (cont.) MAYOR
Page 122 and 123:
Chapter 2: Health (cont.) MAYORAL P
Page 124 and 125:
Chapter 2: Health (cont.) MAYORAL P
Page 126 and 127:
Chapter 3: Family (cont.) MAYORAL P
Page 128 and 129:
Chapter 4: Community Safety (cont.)
Page 130 and 131:
Chapter 4: Community Safety (cont.)
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