DEPARTMENT OF LEGAL COUNSEL
Reentry and Employment
The criminal justice system magnifies the problems of the poor. Poor people live in neighborhoods more frequently trolled by law enforcement; they remain in jail when they can't afford bail; and they have less resources to fight a criminal charge. Once convicted, they can suffer decreased employability, ineligibility from public housing and educational loans; and reduced civic involvement, among many other ill effects.
CSS seeks to ease the reentry of formerly incarcerated individuals by promoting employment as a way out of poverty. To do so, it educates community-based organizations serving that population about the benefits available to employers who hire such individuals; the legal protections job-seekers enjoy against employment discrimination; and certificates that both remove statutory employment barriers and provide presumptive evidence of rehabilitation. CSS helps people get these certificates and understand their criminal record while providing legal advice and representation to individuals who are experiencing employment discrimination because of their criminal record.
Hampton v. Hogan: CSS challenged the transfer of a peer advocate at an organization serving mentally ill and formerly homeless clients with criminal records. Previously, Mr. Hampton had been successfully employed for seven months before a state law went into effect requiring such organizations, licensed by the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH), to fingerprint and check the backgrounds of all job applicants. When Mr. Hampton switched to another program in the organization, he was subjected to the law, and OMH refused to approve him, even though he provided copious evidence of rehabilitation and was hired with full knowledge of his conviction. His history, in fact, made him an ideal employee-he understood exactly what his clients had gone through. This case settled in 2007, when Mr. Hampton was placed in a peer advocate position not subject to the state law.
Rice v. OASAS: CSS is challenging the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services' decision to deny-without any ability to appeal-Mr. Rice his license to be a substance abuse counselor solely because of his criminal record. Like Mr. Hampton, Mr. Rice seeks to use his experience to help others avoid his mistakes, and being a substance abuse counselor will also provides a solid job to support his wife and two young sons.
In re Medina: In an administrative hearing, CSS is representing an applicant denied Section 8 housing because of a four-year-old low-level drug conviction. Mr. Medina can prove completion of a substance abuse program, current enrollment in methadone treatment, and drug-free living for five years. Notwithstanding his deteriorating physical condition, he pushed himself to recently complete a vocational training program so that he may work.
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