Images of Harlem

An art exhibition featuring photographs of Harlem taken over 39 years is up now at the New York Historical Society. We featured a compendium of Vergara's work on the blog here recently.

“Harlem, 1970-2009: Photographs by Camilo José Vergara” is at the New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, through July 12.

Read More

Neighborhood Watch Signs Lead to Varying Perceptions of Crime

A recent study out of the Department of Justice examined the effects of neighborhood watch signs on perceptions of crime. It found that watch signs in low income and middle income areas produced perceptions that crime was a problem (which is the opposite effect of what the signs are intended to produce). In higher income areas, it did the opposite: improved perceptions of neighborhood crime levels.

The neighborhood watch signs, according to the authors, nudge people to pay more attention to other cues in the community. They serve to amplify what exists in the environment, be it graffiti, bars on windows, or greenery. It is an example about how a small variable, posting of neighborhood watch signs, can influence perceptions -- and have unintended consequences.

With respect to our work on reentry in Upper Manhattan, this raises some questions. Does the highlighting of Harlem as a high reentry community actually serve to reinforce the conditions we hope to change? It also connects back to an article in today's Daily News, in which community residents expressed great concern about rising crime rates, even though there is no data to substantiate those fears. Broadly, what effect does media and communications have on community perceptions of crime?

Read More

Meet Michelle Powell, US Probation Officer

Officer Michelle Powell has been a United States Probation Officer within the Eastern District of New York for twelve years. The United States Probation Department Eastern District of New York (EDNY) supervises federal offenders who reside in Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau, Suffolk, and Staten Island. A member of the Upper Manhattan Reentry Task Force, Officer Powell sat down with us to discuss her work supervising probationers and helping them secure employment.

First of all, can you tell us a little bit about how you got your start at US Probation?

During law school, I specialized in criminal and family law. Upon receiving my juris doctorate, I chose not to practice law. Instead, I applied to work at US Probation based upon a friend's referral. I was always fascinated by law enforcement and wanted to make a direct impact on people lives.

I originally started in the pre-sentencing division of US Probation. Federally, we have two divisions of probation: pre-sentence and supervision. In pre-sentence, probation officers write detailed reports about offenders who have been found guilty of a federal offense and are to be sentenced by a judge. These reports include information about the instant offense, the offender's involvement in the crime, and any prior charges or convictions. Additionally, we collect information about the offender’s family, mental and medical history, substance abuse, employment history, and education. Basically, we’re trying to get a full picture of the individual in question so that a judge can make an informed sentencing decision. We also have to offer a sentencing recommendation based on legal guidelines – so we are the eyes and the ears of the court prior to sentencing.

Then there is the supervision division, which is what probation officers do after sentencing has occurred. They monitor and supervise the person who receives probation or has been released (much like a parole officer). Supervision officers make sure that offenders follows their court mandated conditions. Most of our federal offenses are white collar crimes – so we’re dealing with people who have done Counterfeiting, Bank Fraud, Illegal Firearm Sales, Money Laundering, immigration violations, drug trafficking, etc.

After working in pre-sentence, I went into supervision because I wanted to be well-versed in both departments. Currently, I specialize in workforce development and reentry, and I’ve been supervising people for the past nine years. At any given time, I can have a caseload of 30-60 people.

You are the Offender Workforce Development Coordinator for US Probation, Eastern District – what does that involve?

In March 2007, I volunteered to become the Point of Contact for the National Defendant/ Offender Workforce Development Association. Our national office sent out a mandate to the districts that something needed to be done to address workforce development for offenders. As the point of contact, I’m the designated person to coordinate workforce development initiatives in the Eastern District of New York. Since then, I have assisted in the development of "AIM HIRE," the Offender Workforce Development Program for the Eastern District of New York. It’s kind of a play on words: we want our probationers to aim higher and we also want them to get hired.

As the AIM HIRE Workforce Development Coordinator, I receive referrals from other officers for offenders who are in need of a job. When the offenders come for an appointment, I assess whether they are job-ready or need additional skills to become job-ready. For those who need additional skills, which is the majority of the participants, I refer these people to community based organizations. These are folks who aren’t savvy enough to create a resume, are unfamiliar with computers, or otherwise have literacy issues that they need to address. In-house, we help them with motivational counseling, resume writing, interview techniques, basic computer skills, etc. We also refer them to organizations focused on job placement, vocational training, and education. We count their participation at these organizations as working toward employment. We ask them to keep job search journals that help them track what they are doing and what they are getting from the program engagement.

If they are job-ready, then all they really need to know is where to show up for the interview. We work primarily with the Workforce 1 Career Centers (in Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island) which have contacts with a lot of large employers. Usually large companies send representatives to the Workforce 1 Career Center for on-site interview. I don't believe that having a criminal record necessarily stops an offender from getting employed – we educate the offender about their conviction and tell them how to explain that conviction to employers. We tell them how to discuss employer benefits like tax breaks and bonding. We teach the offenders to acknowledge that they did something wrong and express remorse; but they should also move on to being a productive member of society.

Employers want to have a point of contact in case the employee is not working out, so we’re vouching for the probationers. The offenders know that, if they get fired from the job, prison could be in their near future, since one of the conditions to being on probation is that you have to maintain employment. If you don’t do that, you could be violated. If the person is not working, we cannot account for them – we do not know what is happening during the day. You cannot effectively monitor somebody if you do not know where they are. If they are working, then they are contributing to family obligations and are abiding by the conditions of probation.

But prison is not always the immediate response if somebody is not working. We have graduated sanctions. Say somebody is at the six-month mark and does not have employment and has only gone to one interview per month for that time. This is evidence that they are not putting in time to get employed. In that case, the person might get a verbal or written reprimand. If that doesn’t work, then we can have somebody do community service in lieu of employment (where we can at least monitor their activities and note that they are doing some service to society). From there, we could move to electronic monitoring so that we can see who the person is associating with, or do a halfway house or community corrections center. The last resort is prison.

I supervise a team of forensic case managers (who are graduate interns from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice) to track the offenders and follow up with them. We want to know what happened at their meetings, whether they followed instructions and gauge the effectiveness of referred programs. I find that if you don’t follow up, people get lost and slip between the cracks. The case managers communicate with the offenders’ probation officers, who still maintain the other aspects of supervision.

What is the most challenging thing about being a probation officer?

Wearing the dual hat – being both the law enforcement person and then the social worker. You are constantly juggling the two. It’s a misconception that many people have that a probation officer’s sole goal is to get someone back in prison. You’re constantly fighting that misconception.
I have cases where the person needs punitive measures because he is not following directives. I also have that individual who genuinely made a mistake and wants to do the right thing. You’re counseling them about how to talk with their spouses, how to re-acclimate to their children – there are a lot of little things that we take for granted, but that returning offenders need help with.

For example, I had guy who couldn’t pay child support because he was not working. The child’s mother was getting on him about it and he felt like a bad father. I said, "Alright. You can still be a good father – what you need to do is be an active presence in your child’s life. Go to the park, check the child’s homework. You can do free things, you don’t have to do extravagant things. When mom sees that you’re playing a role, your relationship with mom and the child will improve." He came back a few weeks later to say that I was right. He said that he realized he had been prevented from seeing his child because he was having problems with the child’s mother. Now, he had started picking the kid up from school, doing homework with him – just generally doing things that he wasn’t doing before. And his relationship with the child’s mother improved. I could have violated the guy because he was not supporting his dependent (which is one of the conditions of probation), but if he goes back to prison, that doesn’t serve anyone. The child doesn’t have a dad and the mother doesn’t have somebody to support her. So you have to play dual role.

I later joked with the offender stating that I need to start taking up a collection for all the advice I give.

What is the most rewarding thing about being a probation officer? What motivates you to do your job everyday?

The gratitude and acknowledgment you get from your peers, from management and, more importantly, from the offenders. I’ve had offenders who have called me after their termination and told me that they got their master’s degree or a bachelor’s degree. They thanked me for encouraging them to do this. It’s seeing somebody who gets reunited with their child and becomes an active participant in that child’s life. Or somebody who starts at an entry-level position and moves up to supervisor in a rewarding job. Being invited to graduations, getting baby pictures in the mail – it all makes you feel like you’ve reached someone.

If you had all the resources you needed at your disposal, what kind of outcomes do you think you could achieve?

My next goal is to see AIM HIRE become a bigger program. Right now, we’re developing a team of people, not just me, to run the program. Each person could develop a specialty (resumes, interviews, resources, funding) instead of me trying to do everything. I’d also like to see us take on a statistician so that we can develop our data resources. I would also like more recognition, so people can understand what it is that we do and that we need all the resources we can get. Just because we are a federal agency does not mean that we couldn’t use the help of others.

Is there anything else you want people to know about probation officers or probation in general?

Often, we get this rap of just trying to put people in prison. People put themselves in prison. Their actions are what put them back into prison. That’s key. But probation officers do a lot of rehabilitative work – I think it should be an even balance of punitive measures and rehabilitation.

Read More

Employment Success for Reentrants in Maryland

We seem to be on a bit of a policy kick recently -- it's just that there are so many interesting reports being released!

Here is another one from the Manhattan Institute, which conducted a study of a residential prisoner pre-release program in Montgomery County, Maryland. The study focuses on the outcomes of using small rewards to motivate behavior change around employment for reentrants.

Read More

Reentry Resource Guide

The Council of State Government’s Reentry Policy Council, a non-partisan organization that promotes research driven reentry solutions, publishes a number of resources for the field. One that caught our eye is the Reentry Resource Guide. "The guide provides a list of resources for state and local governments, Indian tribes, nonprofits, community- and faith-based organizations, and others interested in developing prison reentry initiatives that reflect evidence-based practices and lessons learned from the field." You can find the guide on CSG's Resource Page.

Read More

Policing Changes in Los Angeles

The Harvard Kennedy School of Government just released a comprehensive study of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Here's the executive summary from "Policing Los Angeles Under a Consent Decree: The Dynamics of Change at the LAPD:"

"The Los Angeles Police Department is today completing one of the most ambitious experiments in police reform ever attempted in an American city. After a decade of policing crises that began with the beating of Rodney King in 1991 and culminated in the Rampart police corruption scandal in 1999, the U.S. Department of Justice announced in May 2000 that it had accumulated enough evidence to sue the City of Los Angeles over a pattern-and-practice of police misconduct. Later that year, the city government entered a “consent decree” promising to adopt scores of reform measures under the supervision of the Federal Court.

The experiment in police reform in Los Angeles has two components: the consent decree produced by the Justice Department’s intervention, and the leadership of Chief William Bratton, who since 2002 has focused the Department’s attention simultaneously on reducing crime, improving morale, and complying fully with the consent decree. What has the experience in Los Angeles revealed about policing under a consent decree? Has the consent decree achieved its purpose? How is the Los Angeles Police Department controlling its use of force; what is the state of police-community relations; how rigorous is the governance and oversight of the LAPD; and how is the culture of the Department changing? Most important, as the LAPD has incorporated the policies and practices specified in the consent decree into its own operations and management, has the Department won the public’s trust and confidence while reducing crime and bringing offenders to justice?

To answer those questions, we examined the LAPD using multiple research methods. We undertook hundreds of hours of participant observation from patrol to the command staff; we analyzed administrative data on crime, arrests, stops, civilian complaints, police personnel, and the use of force. We compiled surveys conducted over the last decade of police officers and residents of Los Angeles, and then conducted three surveys of our own, one of residents, another of LAPD officers, and a third of detainees recently arrested by the LAPD. Finally, we conducted a series of formal focus groups and structured interviews with police officers, public officials, and residents of Los Angeles. While some questions remain unanswered, this ranks among the most comprehensive assessments ever conducted of a police department outside of a time of crisis.

We found the LAPD much changed from eight years ago, and even more so in the last four or five years. Public satisfaction is up, with 83 percent of residents saying the LAPD is doing a good or excellent job; the frequency of the use of serious force has fallen each year since 2004. Despite the views of some officers that the consent decree inhibits them, there is no objective sign of so-called “de-policing” since 2002; indeed, we found that both the quantity and quality of enforcement activity have risen substantially over that period. The greater quantity is evident in the doubling of both pedestrian stops and motor vehicle stops since 2002, and in the rise in arrests over that same period. The greater quality of stops is evident in the higher proportion resulting in an arrest, and the quality of arrests is evident in the higher proportion in which the District Attorney files felony charges.

Our analysis confirmed what others have previously reported: that serious crime is down substantially in Los Angeles over this same period. Indeed, recorded crime is down in every police division in the city. A majority of Los Angeles residents no longer rate crime as a big problem, substantially down from only four years ago, and that is true among Black and Hispanic as well as White and Asian residents.

We asked residents specifically if they think the LAPD could police effectively while also respecting people’s rights and policing within the law. More than twice as many residents see improvement than see deterioration, and the vast majority of each racial and ethnic group is hopeful that this kind of policing will soon be routine.

Both the management and the governance of the LAPD have also changed for the better under the decree. The officer tracking system known as TEAMS II is forcing supervisors to pay attention to officers who attract more civilian complaints or more frequently use force than their peers; and the management tool known as CompStat has helped to transform the Department’s captains into strategic commanders, accountable for reducing crime while maintaining integrity and building public trust in police, one of several initiatives that go well beyond what the consent decree requires. In terms of governance, the Police Commission and the Inspector General have, in particular, enhanced the scrutiny of the Department’s use of force, and of its handling of civilian complaints.

We found persistent differences in the experience of policing among Hispanic residents of LA and more so for Black residents. More than two-thirds of Hispanic and Black residents think well of the job the LAPD is doing today, rating it as good or excellent; yet a substantial minority within each of these groups remains unsatisfied with the Department, and ten percent of Black residents report that almost none of the LAPD officers they encounter treat them and their friends and families with respect. We therefore found it encouraging that, when looking ahead to the next three years, Black residents of Los Angeles are among the most hopeful about the Department.

In sum, the evidence here shows that with both strong police leadership and strong police oversight, cities can enjoy both respectful and effective policing. The LAPD remains aggressive and is again proud, but community engagement and partnership is now part of the mainstream culture of the Department. The Department responds to crime and disorder with substantial force, but it is scrutinizing that force closely and it is accountable through many devices for its proper use. Will the management and oversight improvements persist if the consent decree ends? Better yet, will management and oversight become still stronger? While we cannot answer those questions in advance, the LAPD appears ready for that test."

Read More

Reentry in Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Public Record has started a series of articles about criminal justice and reentry. Check out the first one here and the second one here.

The articles highlight budget and operations issues among city agencies that are preventing probation and parole officers from effectively supervising probationers and parolees.

The next article in the series should come out on Saturday and will likely feature the Harlem Parole Reentry Court as an innovation that could help address this problem.

Read More

Harlem News Source

We've learned recently about All Things Harlem, a news source focused on grassroots-level reporting on political, social, and cultural happenings in the neighborhood. It was started by Joseph Hayden, who was profiled in this recent article in the New York Times. There are some interesting videos, including one that gets into the police practice of "stop and frisk." Check it out!

Read More

New Report Highlights Effective Post-Release Supervision Strategies

The Urban Institute’s Justice Policy Center has released a report entitled "Putting Public Safety First: 13 Strategies for Successful Supervision and Reentry." The report summarizes the opinions of national experts on effective parole/post-release supervision. Many of the strategies match efforts already underway in Upper Manhattan through Task Force partners. The Report was completed in collaboration with the Center for Effective Public Policy , the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections , and Consultant William D. Burrell.

Read More

Free Webinar on Grant Writing

The Council of State Governments is hosting a free webinar designed to outline basic steps to take in preparing any kind of funding proposal, as well as provide guidance to help organizations think through their project design and get their program organized.

You can register for it here.

Read More

RR Roundup: Interesting Articles in the News

According to Child Trends, there has been an increase in child poverty, with troubling disparities between children of different races.

A new report from the Correctional Association cites continued disparities in prison healthcare in New York State.

Good news from the Harlem Children's Zone: researchers from the Harvard Economics department have documented impressive educational gains for students in their elementary and middle schools.

Read More

Gans on Severe Poverty

Renowned sociologist Professor Herbert J. Gans has spent a fruitful career examining such topics as urban and public sociology, public policy, ethnicity, mass media, democracy. He is the author of central sociological texts like The Urban Villagers, The Levittowners: How People Live and Politic in Suburbia, Popular Culture and High Culture, The War Against the Poor, Democracy and the News, and Imagining America in 2033, among many others. In addition to studying social phenomena, Professor Gans has also mentored generations of sociologists, many of them through participant-observation and ethnographic studies.

Recently, Professor Gans shared with us a set of anti-poverty policy proposals for the excluded poor, drafted for review by members of the Obama administration. In this policy paper, Gans describes the "excluded poor" as the over 40 percent of all officially poor people who earn half or less of the poverty line income. Gans notes that the proportion of people who fall in this category rose from 25% to 43% between 1970 and 2007; and that other problems associated with severe poverty have worsened as well during this period.

As we noted in our needs assessment of reentry in Upper Manhattan, the four community districts that comprise Upper Manhattan are among the poorest in New York City. The median household income in Upper Manhattan was $28,817 in 2006, compared to $46,480 for the rest of New York City. Approximately 1 in 3 households in Upper Manhattan had incomes of less than $15,000 for the same year. Poverty is a deep and persistent aspect of uptown life and most reentrants come back to families that are facing difficult economic situations.

As observers have noted, there are many hidden financial burdens that communities are left to manage when family members and neighbors go to prison:

• Where families used to rely on two incomes or support from a non-custodial parent to feed a family and pay the bills, they now must make do with only one salary.



• Businesses (most notably small businesses) lose both employees and customers.



• Houses of worship and volunteer programs must gather the resources to provide services that poor families require once they have lost the income of a household member.



• For crimes that result in death or severe disability, victims’ families are permanently stripped of the earning potential of the deceased or disabled – and may also become burdened with unexpected property loss or medical costs. (Fields, Gary, “Communities Pay Price of High Prison Rate,” The Wall Street Journal, 11 June 2008).

These financial burdens come as additional strains on many families already struggling to survive below the poverty line.

Professor Gans thinks that antipoverty policy should address these issues in two ways: first, attempts at greater public understanding and explanation of why the excluded poor are excluded. "Understanding is required to make antipoverty programs politically more salable; explanation should help in bringing about understanding." Second, the government should implement a set of specific economic and other programs that can reach this often hard-to-reach popultion. Acutely aware of political realities, Gans reminds us that "poverty programs which directly help the poor often require them to be blameless." Thus, a solution might be to officially target these programs toward the working poor, making sure that the excluded poor also benefit in some way. Above all, Gans sees inclusion in the labor market as the primary vehicle for escape from severe poverty.

We encourage you to read this piece for yourself -- it calls attention to the need for greater political participation among the severely poor and offers a number of policy proposals for how the current administration could take advantage of this moment to bring more people up to the starting line.

Read More

The New York Times Hearts Second Chance Act

An editorial in today's Times supporting the Second Chance Act. Thanks to Carl Hatch, Vice President of the Catholic Family Center and representative of the Rochester County Reentry Task Force, for pointing it out.

Read More

Chart: Financial Consequences of Criminal Convictions

Legal interns at the Feerick Center Social Justice Clinic at Fordham University School of Law recently completed a chart outlining the financial consequences of criminal convictions.

The Feerick Center aims to help create social justice using innovative problem-solving techniques. The Center identifies and takes on discrete poverty-related issues to explore new approaches to social justice, serve the disenfranchised, and educate both lawyers and the public about the workings of the legal system, as well as the importance of social justice.

The chart primarily provides a summary of the financial consequences that male and female reentrants may encounter. The chart includes specific ranges of money allowed by law to be levied for a particular fine, fee or surcharge and the possible consequences of leaving those debts unpaid. It also includes information regarding the consequences of non-payment of restitution and child support.

We are much indebted to the Feerick Center for passing along such a comprehensive resource!

Read More

Visit Muddy Waters Cafe in Harlem

We've heard some great things about Muddy Waters Cafe in Harlem. If you're in the area and need a little boost, this might be your spot.

Muddy Waters Cafe

2185 Adam Clayton Powell Blvd

between 129th and 130th Streets

New York, NY 10027

Read More

Ideas in Practice: How to Create a Blog for Your Reentry Task Force

Recently, we were asked by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services to put together a factsheet on "How to Create a Blog for Your Reentry Task Force."

We did, and we thought that we'd share it with our own blog audience, for those of you who are wondering how to create a similar tool for communication and outreach. The factsheet is targeted to reentry task forces, but the principles could be applied to any group of stakeholders working on a public sector issue.

If you are reading this post, then you know what a blog is. In answer to the question "Why is a blog useful for outreach?" we have this to say:

• Blogs can help your Task Force to broadcast activities to a broad group of stakeholders. For example, if your Task Force is planning an employer breakfast, it can be publicized beforehand on the blog and then featured as a commentary article once it is successfully completed, with some photos of the event.


• Blogs can help your Task Force to shape and transmit your message and educate the public about reentry.


• Blogs also draw media attention and are a helpful tool for spreading the work of your Task Force to radio, television, and print media.


• Most importantly, it's free!

New web tools have made it basically foolproof to create a blog -- so try it out! We hope our factsheet will serve as a useful guide -- and please be in touch if you have questions or learn something that might be helpful to us.

Read More

Building Green at the Fortune Academy Complex

On par with finding a job, locating stable housing can be one of the biggest challenges for individuals returning from incarceration. Often, families are unwilling or unable to accept back their relatives -- either because they have had enough of the individual's behavior, or because they live in public housing that prohibits the family from allowing the individual to live with them. In addition, housing discrimination is widespread in the private housing market; and the conditions of parole dictate that any arrangements have to be approved by an individual's parole officer.

To address many of these challenges, The Fortune Society is working with Jonathan Rose Companies to build a green housing complex in West Harlem, providing supportive housing and services for the formerly homeless and other individuals in need of affordable housing. Here are some stats:

• 11 stories tall


• 110,000 square feet


• 114 units of affordable rental housing


• 20,000 square feet of office, community, and meeting space


• it's "green," to reduce utility usage and costs by 20% over a standard building

The Fortune Society has offered housing and supportive services for some time to reentrants in "The Castle," which is adjacent to the new building. With this development, The Fortune Society will be able to offer enhanced job training, counseling, and education services. Residents will be able to move in in 2010 and the public spaces will be available for community use at that time as well. And it has a roof garden!

To see video of the groundbreaking, click here.

Read More

A Sad Spate of Violence in Upper Manhattan

This weekend, a 17-year-old youth was killed, execution-style, on 141st Street in Washington Heights. Although details of the shooting are still emerging, this report in the New York Post suggests that the young man, Cory Squire, had become involved in gang activities and was trying to extricate himself. He was the father of a 3-year-old boy and his sister said the young man was predicting he would die before the age of 18.

Perhaps most saddening is information from an accompanying video saying that there was a man sleeping in a car parked right by the victim's body during the entire incident. When police arrived, they woke him up -- he had no idea that the shooting had just happened.

This incident comes just a few weeks after an 13-year-old boy was shot in the head during a barbeque on 121st Street and Lenox Ave.

Read More

Roundup on Reentry Projects Nationwide

There are interesting reentry projects happening all over the country. Here's a roundup of a couple we've heard of recently through Google Alerts on reentry.




Second Chance Prisoner Reentry Employment Program, San Diego, California
Featured on KPBS Radio



Female Residential Multi-Service Center, Sacramento, California
Featured on California Correctional Crisis Blog



Building an Offender Reentry Program: A Guide for Law Enforcement
Featured on Stir Crazy in Texas Blog



Community Forums on Reentry, Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Featured on Main Street Oshkosh Blog



The Children's Center at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, New York
Featured on Lives in Focus: Family Life Behind Bars
(listen online tonight to a live chat with staff at the correctional facility!)

Please keep up posted on the status of your own reentry projects -- we're always looking to feature innovative and successful ways of reducing recidivism and enhancing public safety!

Read More

"There Are Almost No Absolute Bars:" A Conversation About Reentry and Employment with Glenn E. Martin

Research shows that individuals with criminal records are less likely to commit new crimes or to violate the terms of their parole if they are employed. Quite simply, employing reentrants is good for public safety, and therefore, good for business. Unfortunately, gaining such employment can be a major challenge for somebody returning from prison. We invited Glenn E. Martin, Vice President of Development and Public Affairs at The Fortune Society, to help us unpack this issue and explain how reentrants can address the employment challenges that they face.

Glenn, tell us a little bit about your role at The Fortune Society.

When I originally came to The Fortune Society 16 months ago, it was to help launch the David Rothenberg Center for Public Policy, which is Fortune's way of institutionalizing the policy advocacy work that we've been doing for the past 40 years. My task there was to take a look the programmatic models, the issues that clients were facing, and the barriers that prevented their success and to address them on a systemic level. Direct services are obviously really important to meet an individual's immediate needs, but when you see patterns develop across clients, you realize you have to address them on the systemic level. The Center will help do that, with the help of program staff to identify and advance the issues.

After 10 months here, I took over the communications department, which means that I am in charge of Fortune's messaging, website development, public education campaigns, and media relations. Then three months ago, I took over the development department and am in charge of developing a strategy to secure resources for programmatic and policy work.

Why is securing employment a challenge for people with criminal records?

There are a lot of practical and statutory barriers for reentrants seeking jobs, even those who are qualified. Obviously, there is a lack of soft skills, such as knowing how to engage an employer, showing up to work on time, and relating to colleagues. In addition, there are also statutory barriers and stigma -- in New York State, there are over 100 licensing agencies, each with some kind of barrier to individuals with criminal records. Many of those barriers can be removed with a Certificate of Relief or a Certificate of Good Conduct, which show that New York State considers a reentrant to be "rehabilitated" and that also remove some of the legal barriers that prevent people with criminal records from getting certain jobs or licenses. Most reentrants, however, just can't get over the hurdles required to remove those barriers without assistance from an advocate or an intermediary organization, like the Fortune Society.

There are also regulations that bar people from entire industries. For instance, the home health care industry has a regulation that most people with felony and some misdemeanor convictions cannot work in the industry for 10 years post-conviction and there is no nuance in the regulation. It does not differentiate between the jobs taking care of patients and positions for van drivers or uniform preparers. This also flies in face of New York State's anti-discrimination law, which says that licensing agencies have to use case-by-case evaluation and not blanket barriers in making hiring decisions. Typically, these sorts of regulations and laws that bar people from entire industries are very reactionary and are the result of a particular crime being committed – it makes good politics, but it makes bad policy.

But even there, there are almost no absolute bars – if a person gets a Certificate of Relief or Good Conduct, they can apply, just like anyone else. It's true that barriers exist in law enforcement jobs, some federal positions, and jobs at agencies (like banks) that have federal oversight (such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation). But I always tell people that there are limited absolute bars. If you want to be a lawyer, OK. It's going to be really difficult, but it's not impossible.

What does the law say about what information reentrants must reveal to potential employers?

In New York, employers have the right to consider criminal convictions as far back as they want to see. Some employers are progressive and only ask for the last 5 or 7 years – we think that's great, if they stick to it.

To be clear, I’m saying "criminal convictions" – that means only felonies and misdemeanors, and does not include violations or infractions. Also, youthful offender (YO) adjudications are not fair game. Most people don’t realize they got that adjudication -- and that the reason a judge sentenced them as a "youthful offender" was so that they could avoid the stigma of a criminal record as they become adults. Finally, you are not required to reveal any past arrests that did not lead to conviction.

Having worked for a public interest law firm for years, I’m very "legalese" in the way I talk about these things. I see many organizations that suggest to people to use the penal code for their offense on a job application, as opposed to naming the actual conviction. I think time is money – if you put down a penal code, it sends a message that you are trying to be coy and that could really diminish your chances. It makes more sense to list what is there and to say that you are hoping to follow up in the interview. Some people don’t put down their convictions at all and say that they will discuss this issue at the interview. That usually gets people through door and even gets them jobs – but three to four years later, when they are up for promotion and need a background check, the person who hired them is likely not there. At that point, they have no proof of having disclosed a criminal conviction. When that section is left it blank, the individual looses their rights under Article 23A, because it is considered lying. In fact, you can be charged with a misdemeanor for lying on an application. It's a legal document. The best thing to do is to be honest.

Are there things that employers are not allowed to ask about?

I always tell people to get a copy of their rap sheet before doing an employment search, because a background check can reveal more than person wants to reveal. [Note: Rap sheets can also have errors on them, which is another reason to check what it says before putting in job applications. To get information about obtaining and correcting a rap sheet, click here.] If a person has a conviction for possession of a hypodermic syringe, for example, then an employer's assumption might be about past drug use, which is protected under the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Article 23A, which is part of the New York Corrections Law, provides a clear employment standards statute. This law gives guidance to employers or licensing agencies with 4 or more employees (except law enforcement entities and federal employers). It says that employers must take certain things into account when evaluating an individual with a criminal record for a job:

• the relationship between the conviction and the duties of the job;


• whether the person poses an unreasonable risk (in terms of liability);


• the person's age at time of conviction;


• the severity of the conviction;


• the amount of time that has elapsed since the conviction; and


• any evidence of rehabilitation, including a Certificate of Relief or Certificate of Good Conduct.

New York State promotes a public policy of encouraging the hiring of people with criminal records and requires individualized assessment of each person. Additionally, an employer cannot take into consideration an arrest that did not lead to conviction -- that right is protected under the State's Human Rights Law. Employers also should not be taking into account violations (such as disorderly conduct, or traffic violations). Finally, employers should not be asking about any past alcohol or drug use: under New York City statute, even current alcohol use is protected as a disability. As we know, there is a close correlation between people who have done time in prison and substance abuse history. The Department of Correctional Services reports that about 80% of people who have done time have a substance abuse history.


In the case that an employer has improperly considered some of these factors in making a hiring decision, a person has a right to contest such a denial. Job seekers with criminal records are entitled to get a letter from the employer (delivered within 30 days) describing why the job seeker is not being hired and including whether a conviction record is being considered in the decision-making. No other job seeker has this right, in fact. Job seekers also have the right to file a complaint against the employer, and can visit the New York State Division of Human Rights or the New York City Commission on Human Rights, if the employer is here in the city.

Unfortunately, people take advantage of that recourse very rarely. Results from a study about discrimination in low wage labor markets that I managed in collaboration with Bruce Western and Devrah Pager from Harvard and Princeton Universities, respectively, show that many employers do not know the law exists and many people with criminal records do not realize that job seekers with records have this protection. Now, employers who are familiar with the Americans with Disabilities Act rarely ever discriminate against somebody in a wheelchair, but they will regularly say that they don't accept people with criminal records. You see it on Craig's List all the time: "clean background check required." It's illegal in New York, but employers do it.


That's why we need ways to educate employers about the law. The Employer Education Act does just that: it insures that we develop mechanisms for educating employers and their human resource departments about this law. Among other things, it requires employers to provide post Article 23A in their place of employment and, as of February 2nd of this year, these posters contain the Article 23A anti-discrimination law.

What are good strategies for addressing criminal convictions if they come up in an interview or on the job?

First of all, a person has the right to know what information an employer relied upon to do a background check under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. If an employer is relying on information about an arrest that did not lead to a conviction, as we discussed, the information should not be taken into consideration. If questions about an arrest come up in an interview, I would say that a job seeker should not get into the details at all. If the employer does not respond favorably, I would consider filing a complaint against the employer and against the background check company, which is obligated to report only criminal conviction information.

Again, the best strategies for responding to these questions start before the interview. As you are beginning your job search, start thinking through what evidence of rehabilitation you bring to table and what you have done since the conviction. Take responsibility for the crime, but keep your comments future-focused. Maybe say “Yes, I have a conviction for robbery and here is what I have done since then,” talking about the programs you have completed either in prison or on parole, and any other jobs in which you have been successful.

If you are on parole, I would say that, but only if you follow up to explain what that means: some people who have no idea of what parole involves, and so it helps to say "that means that I have a curfew, that I have to seek and maintain employment, and that I am regularly drug-tested." At the end of the day, employers are concerned about the bottom line. Most employers are concerned with the amount of resources invested in an employee up-front, typically with training costs in the first 90 days of employment. If there is somebody else keeping an eye on a new employee, that can help the bottom line, in terms of reducing turnover and therefore additional training costs.

You direct the David Rothenberg Center for Public Policy at the Fortune Society. One of your stated advocacy priorities for the next few years is to remove counterproductive barriers to employment for job seekers with criminal records. Can you give us an update on your progress with legislation like the Employer Education Act?

Well, we've seen that it’s one thing to get a law passed and another to get it implemented. Interestingly enough, the part that was easy to implement was the signage in the workplace about Article 23A, as I previously mentioned. Most signage companies saw an opportunity to make money on the posters and so they did all the advertising and promoting for us.

The other piece of the Act, requiring employers to provide a copy of the anti-discrimination law, is going to take longer and employer education will be necessary. We’re currently working with large law firms that have employment practices to educate their clients and we'll be sending out posters to 10,000 employers in New York State about the changes in the law. We're encouraged that the New York State Department of Labor posted the law on their website and Elaine Kost, the Federal Bonding Coordinator for the State, has been promoting the change in law through the Department of Labor One-Stop centers and various trainings and presentations.

We are also considering drafting legislation to add attorney's fees to the Human Rights law on employment discrimination for people with criminal records. Currently, there are no legal resources for people who have experienced discrimination based on criminal records, in part because there are opportunities to collect legal fees in these sorts of cases. A person can be assisted pro-bono through the Legal Action Center and the Reentry Law Project at the New York City Bar Association, but they have a limited number of attorneys for all of the 28,000 people being released from state prison this year. This bill would say that, for any lawsuit that ends in a judgment, the attorney is able to also seek fees, incentivizing them to represent people.

Working with the Legal Action Center, we also got a bill introduced to give Family Court judges discretion to reduce child support payments for people who are incarcerated and who do not have the means to pay their child support (in other words, people who have no assets and no income). Currently, incarceration is considered willful unemployment, so judges don't have the discretion to reduce those payments. We see guys coming out with $40,000 or $50,000 in arrears. Those kinds of debts drive them into the underground labor market, which can also lead to more involvement in crime. This bill would stop their child support arrears from accumulating while they are incarcerated, so that they don't come out to those kinds of insurmountable debts upon release.

What strategies would you like to see employers utilize to mitigate the exclusion of workers based on criminal records?

You know, there was a bill drafted by the New York City Bar last year and passed. It says that, if employers do their due diligence through the Article 23A check, they are protected against negligent hiring claims. In other words, if you do your job as an employer, you are protected from liability. That’s huge, and there needs to be education about it, since it responds to a major concern from employers, which is liability.


Some other reasons why hiring reentrants is good for business:

• employers get qualified employees;


• employers can take advantage of federal bonding programs, or insurance to indemnify employers for loss of money or property sustained through the dishonest acts of their employees;


• employers can claim Work Opportunity Tax Credits for hiring people with criminal records;


• if a person is supervised by parole or probation, there is an added level of protection against the employee going astray and a support system for that person to succeed; and


• many people with criminal records work closely with intermediary organizations -- such as The Fortune Society -- that can offer services to small- and medium-sized businesses akin to those provided by human resource departments (placement, re-placement if somebody doesn't work out, drug treatment support, etc.).

Hiring reentrants reduces recidivism and increases public safety, and employers can play a role by giving qualified job seekers the opportunity to compete for a job on the merits. It's about bringing everybody up to the starting line.

What effect do you think the stimulus money will have on creating job opportunities for reentrants? Have you noticed any concerted effort to include reentrants as a specific category of jobseekers in any federal or state solicitations?
New York State has decided to invest a considerable amount of its stimulus resources to help make the recent drug law reform a success. There is going to be an increased number of people diverted from the justice system and an increased number resentenced to return to their communities. Stimulus resources will be going to agencies that can help people resettle themselves and reconnect to their families. In conversations we have had with the Division of Criminal Justice Services, those resources will be used mostly for career development-related purposes and invested in programs that provide workforce development for people with criminal records.

The question is: will it be sustainable? New York State is investing more money in the next two years in reentry ($40 million) than all of the resources devoted to the Second Chance Act for the entire country ($25 million). We essentially have a two year window of opportunity to demonstrate that these approaches save money and save lives.

----------------------------

For more information about how to protect yourself from illegal discrimination as a job seeker with a criminal record, take a look at this brochure from the Legal Action Center, starting on page 5.

For more information on how to get and cleanup your New York State rap sheet, see this brochure, also from the Legal Action Center.

Read More

RR Contest: Reentry and the "Sixth Sense"

Technology geniuses at the MIT Media Lab have created a device they call the "Sixth Sense."

Put down your iPhones, your Kindles, and all other tech gadgets you think put you ahead of the curve. This tool is really something different. Watch the video.

It is a "wearable gestural interface that augments the physical world around us with digital information and lets us use natural hand gestures to interact with that information," according to Pranav Mistry, its creator.

That description doesn't really do justice to what this thing can do: it's worn on the body and combines a camera, projector, and wireless internet, with the ability to detect the motions or gestures made by the person wearing it. It can project onto any surface using the built-in projector and simultaneously get information from the web about the object being seen and project that information back on the object in appropriate manner. Essentially, it's nuts.

Here are some examples of what the Sixth Sense can do: pick up a book at the bookstore, place it in front of the camera, and immediately, the device scans the book title and projects back onto the book a complete review from Amazon.com.

Want to know what time it is? Hold up your arm, direct the camera at your wrist, draw the shape of a watch, and the projector projects the time onto your arm.

Want to take a picture of something, but don't have your camera with you? Hold up your fingers in the shape of a square box, and the device will recognize that motion as a signal to take a picture of what's inside the box. Then you can go home, project all of your pictures onto the wall and sort them out into categories.

Curious about the person standing in front of you? Direct the camera in their direction, the internet will pull up a list of tags associated with their name on the web, and the projector will project that information back onto the person.

Again, we urge you to watch the video.

OK, so the question we're posing is this: What does this mean for reentry and criminal justice? THAT is what we'd like to hear from you about. The best idea for how this tool could be applied to reduce recidivism and enhance public safety (judged completely subjectively by our own internal panel of people who write for this blog) will win its own blog feature. Have at it!

Read More