Growing More Effective Practice Through the Expansion of Local Reentry Coalitions Ohio Justice Alliance for Community Corrections 26 th Annual Conference October 11, 2012

PRESENTERS Ed Rhine, Deputy Director, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, Office of Offender Reentry Kysten Palmore, Franklin County Reentry Task Force/Ohio Association of Local Reentry Coalitions Darryl Graves, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Chris Yanai, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction

Why is Reentry Important?  The interest in reentry is fueled by many factors but two stand out: public safety, and offender recidivism.  Recognition by legislators, correctional leaders, and others that public safety is sorely compromised when hundreds of thousands of prisoners released from institutions are ill-prepared to succeed in the free world.

Reentry in Ohio  Ohio’s commitment to reentry spans over ten years  Supportive of wide-ranging reforms – within and well outside of Corrections  In numerous other counties and cities, and at the state level

In December 2008, the Ohio General Assembly passed HB 130. Among its provisions, the bill created the Ohio Ex-Offender Reentry Coalition to serve as a guiding hub for expanding and improving reentry efforts across state and local agencies and communities. OHIO EX-OFFENDER REENTRY COALITION

Growing Reentry Across Ohio Ohio is committed to engaging sentencing and correctional reform, addressing collateral sanctions, and pursuing community-based reentry partnerships across all 88 counties.

More On OERC  The Reentry Coalition now consists of 17 statutory members, inclusive of state agencies, a representative of the Ohio Health Care Licensing Boards and soon an Ex-Offender.  To facilitate the flow of reentry - creation of a website that is accessible to everyone. The address of the website is:

Growth of Local Reentry Coalitions  The state level Reentry Coalition has lent significant support to growing a local reentry coalition infrastructure across Ohio. Shared ownership.  In a significant development, it recently endorsed the formation of the Ohio Association of Local Reentry Coalitions.

Initial Funding of Local Coalitions  The issuance of a Reentry Grant RFP totaling $4.7M utilizing Justice Assistance Grant American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds. The monies were invested in six established local reentry coalitions to enhance their reentry model; and to assist eight other counties in developing local coalitions, all in an effort to position the State of Ohio to apply for Second Chance Act dollars.  The Reentry Coalition has provided ongoing support to state and local governments and community agencies in their pursuit of federal dollars. During calendar year 2009, the Reentry Coalition provided its constituents with preliminary grant review feedback by the Grants Development sub-committee members offering 25 letters of support for grant applications. The total amount of reentry grant dollars sought during the past three calendar years totals almost $80M with just over $30M received in awards.

Local Reentry Coalitions Play Critical Role  There are presently 19 established local reentry coalitions, 4 local reentry alliances, and 13 local reentry partners scattered across the state covering a total of 43/88 counties. Within the next two years, every offender leaving a DRC prison will have a pre-release, face-to-face contact with a local reentry coalition in the county to which he or she is returning.

Mapping Reentry in Ohio

More on Local Reentry Coalitions  Some counties have established an Office of Reentry with a full-time Reentry Coordinator.  Sponsorship of Reentry Resource Forums  Sponsorship of Job Fairs and “Employer Awareness Workshops”  Triaging of services and linkages relative to employment, housing, treatment, mentoring and more  Sponsorship of legal clinics to address barriers to reentry (e.g., outstanding warrants, fines, license suspensions)  Support for Ex-Offender Support Groups  Websites that connect ex-offenders to information and resources, along with printed materials.  Video-conferencing that connects to offenders pre-release

CIVICC Database  The Reentry Coalition continues to support a major undertaking by the Ohio Justice and Policy Center, the Office of the Ohio Public Defender, in collaboration with the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, the Office of the Attorney General, and the Ohio State Bar Foundation to create the Civil Impacts of Criminal Convictions e-Database (CIVICC). This database allows anyone to search Ohio statutes and regulations for employment and other barriers associated with specific criminal offenses. The power and simplicity of the tool will improve the criminal justice system by providing judges, prosecutors, defense counsel, educational institutions, social service providers, as well as ex-offenders and others with a better understanding of the long-term consequences of a criminal conviction. The database can be accessed presently at

Recent Activity  Beginning in December 2011 the OERC sponsored, with bi- partisan support, four collateral sanctions forums around the state. The workgroups activated during these forums drafted language designed to change legislation in Ohio. On May 9 two state representatives introduced HB524  On June 26 th Senate Bill 337 was signed into law  EEOC Guidelines

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission New Criminal Record Guidance  The Top Ten Things You Need to Know about the EEOC’s New Criminal Record Guidance  Background  Implications: Why is this important?

EEOC Guidance I. The new EEOC Guidance confirms the core principles present in the earlier guidance, including.  Presumption that criminal record policies have disparate impact based on race and national origin, for purposes of EEOC investigation of criminal record changes  Three business necessity factors  Age of offense  Seriousness of the offense  Relationship to the job  Conclusions that across-the-board exclusions usually violate Title VII  The prohibition against considering arrests that have not led to convictions  For more information on EEOC Guidance go to National Employment Law Project

EEOC Guidance I. The new guidance is enormously important for employers and the people we serve because it provides clarification of the EEOC standards II.New policy provides guidance on how employer criminal record policies should be designed to comply with Title VII

EEOC Guidance IV. It identifies best practices that employers can pursue V. Emphasizes that employers should distinguish between different jobs and different offenses and provide time limits for disqualifications VI. recommends that employers consider individual circumstances

EEOC Guidance VII. It identifies factors that should be considered such as:  Employment history  Rehabilitation efforts  Age at time of conviction  Employment or character references and any other information regarding fitness for the particular position

EEOC Guidance VIII. It recommends the process by which individual circumstances should be considered  Step 1: Employer notification to the applicant that he/she may be rejected on his criminal record;  Step 2: An opportunity for an applicant to respond  Step 3: Employer consideration of what the applicant has said on his/her behalf

EEOC Guidance IX. The guidance endorses as a best practice the fair hiring process adopted in many states and cities, which removes the felony question legally referred to as the criminal background check from the job application and delays the inquiry until late in the hiring process X. The guidance explains how Title VII interacts with other laws – a complex legal issue not addressed by the prior policies

SB 337 and Collateral Sanctions in Ohio  Even if rehabilitative and transitional services are made available to assist inmates post-release, there are still significant barriers that offenders face upon release in the form of collateral sanctions.  Individual Ohioans, a total of 1.9M, who have been convicted of a crime, face legal penalties long after they have finished serving their prescribed sentence. Over 800 hundred statutory and regulatory barriers.

Moving Towards Effective Practices  Use of Evidence-based practices  Partnering with local coalitions  Employer education and participation  Public education on SB337  Prison reform-resulting in increased access for community partners

CONTACT INFORMATION    

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