Employment Barriers of the Formerly Incarcerated Damage Our Communities

The neighborhoods of Harlem, the South Bronx, and Jamaica as well as portions of Bedford-Stuyvesant and East New York in Brooklyn and Central Bronx are bearing the brunt of large concentrations of the formerly incarcerated, many of whom cannot find employment. Without a job, they often find themselves mired in poverty, but they must have money to live. Inevitably, many return to criminal activities that damage both the community and their families.

The problems confronting reentry of the formerly incarcerated into the workforce is an often overlooked problem that affects an increasing number of Americans, many of whom live in poverty. Here in New York State there are approximately 63,000 people in state prisons. About 25,000 to 30,000 are released every year. Disproportionately, the Black and Latino community is destabilized since the overwhelming majority of those who leave the prison system are people of color who return to their neighborhoods in the city.

Barriers to Employment

What initially drew our attention to this issue was our becoming aware of the difficulty the formerly incarcerated face as they seek to find employment. We found statutory barriers that prevent individuals with felony convictions from being employed in a number of occupations. The breadth of their exclusion from meaningful work was startling. It amounts to the imposition of a "civil death penalty," a permanent punishment for misdeeds for which they have already paid their debt to society.

Given the large numbers of individuals who are released from prisons and jails, and who are without a means to support themselves and family members, it became apparent to us that this population was further enlarging the population of the poor in our city. To ignore their needs would simply be to harm our communities.

Recently Congress passed the "Second Chance Act," a landmark civil rights bill that focuses on the needs of the formerly incarcerated as they reenter society. The Act was the culmination of years of work by criminal justice and civil rights advocates, and was strongly supported by the Congressional Black Caucus.

"Working for Change"

Last week, the Community Service Society (CSS) made reentry and the Second Chance Act the focus of its monthly "Working for Change" policy forum on Capitol Hill. The Working for Change forum is a monthly series of discussions with congressional staffers, advocates, and others to forge a consensus on an economic mobility agenda for low-income Americans. The goal of the forum is to mobilize a core group of advocates and public officials to act in concert to increase workers' wages and improve workplace benefits nationwide. The forum, which began in May 2007, is sponsored by CSS in collaboration with the Coalition on Human Needs.

The April forum, "A Second Chance at Work: Reentry and Workforce Opportunities," was addressed by several experts in the field of reentry initiatives. Fred Davie, president of Public Private Ventures, spoke about his programs, the National Faith-Based Initiative for High-Risk Youth and Ready4Work, a national prisoner reentry program.

Wilson Goode, former mayor of Philadelphia, explained the acclaimed Amachi Program, which he directs. Amachi is a national faith-based mentoring program for children of incarcerated parents. Helen Mitchell, Director of Strategic Planning and Policy Development for Congressman Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.), deals with problems affecting Black men, including criminal justice, reentry, employment, and drug abuse. She was instrumental in the campaign that culminated with the passage of the Second Chance Act.

James Lanier is the program director of the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency's Re-Entry and Sanctions Center of Washington, D.C. He spoke about his agency's work with high risk reentrants. In addition, the forum was addressed by CSS's Director of Reentry Initiatives, Gabriel Torres-Rivera, and CSS Staff Attorney Paul Keefe.

Reentry Roundtable

In response to the obstacles faced by those who are released from prison, CSS formed the New York Reentry Roundtable in 2005 -- a monthly discussion group for community-based advocates and the formerly incarcerated. The Roundtable, however, is more than a sounding board. It takes action. The Roundtable focuses on a state legislative agenda that advocates for critical reforms in education, employment, health care, family connections, child support, housing, and voting rights.

On May 22, 2007, more than 100 Roundtable participants traveled to the state Capitol for Albany Advocacy Day. The agenda -- formulated by the Roundtable's legislative committee -- was presented to two dozen key legislators and staff members to advocate for issues that eliminate obstacles confronting the formerly incarcerated.

There has already been some success. Two bills on the Roundtable's legislative agenda were recently signed into law. The Medicaid Suspension Bill reinstates Medicaid benefits to the incarcerated upon their release. The Family Connections Bill eliminates excessive fees associated with collect calls from inmates to their families.

This year, CSS will again sponsor an Albany Advocacy Day, to be held on Tuesday, May 20. As he did last year, Gabriel Torres-Rivera, will coordinate the trip. Advocates will be meeting with legislators and staffers to discuss Reentry Roundtable priorities, including repeal of the Rockefeller drug laws, restoration of educational aid for those still in prison, and opposition to new fees and fines that create debt and barriers to individuals reentering society.

I encourage you to contact Gabriel Torres-Rivera at grivera@cssny.org or call him at (212) 614-5306 if you would like more information on the New York Reentry Roundtable or have an interest in participating in Albany Advocacy Day on May 20. I also encourage you to visit the CSS website -- www.cssny.org -- to get the dates of upcoming meetings of the Reentry Roundtable.

From the New York Amsterdam News
May 1 - 7, 2008