1. law, govt and politics
2. legal issues
3. civil rights

Welcome All!
To the Monthly Meeting
of West Contra Costa County’s
Reentry Solutions Group
Tuesday, April 28, 2015, Noon to 2:00 PM
Bermuda Room, Civic Center, Richmond, CA
RSG Meeting Dates
• April 28, 2015
• May 26, 2015
• June 30, 2015
• July 28, 2015
• August 25, 2015….
Agenda for Today
12:00-12:20
Settling In
12:20-12:25
Who’s In the Room? (Rebecca Brown, Donté Blue)
12:25-12:40
Update on the Youth Justice Initiative (Ji Seon Song)
12:40-12:50
News on Recidivism Reduction Grants (Donté Blue)
12:50-1:05
Working With Employers to Build Employment Demand (Donté Blue)
1:05-1:45
Cultivating Fair Chance Employment (Meredith Desautels)
1:45–2:00
Update on the Reentry Center (Rebecca Brown)
2:00
Adjourn
Update on the
Youth Justice Initiative
Presented by:
Ji Seon Song, Juvenile Justice Attorney, Office of the Public Defender
Youth Justice Initiative:
A New Resource!
• In March, Contra Costa won a three-year state grant, providing $1.045
million a year to develop a Youth Justice Initiative (YJI) in the County.
• The YJI is intended to support young people by improving the systems
that affect the lives of at-risk young people.
• The YJI is guided in partnership with a 14-member, cross-sector Steering
Committee (community-based organizations and county agencies).
Youth Justice Initiative:
Major Activities
YJI Steering Committee:
14 Members: County Agencies and CBOs
District Attorney
YJI:
Unifying hub of learning and
coordination
School
Success Pilot
(starting in
Antioch)
Reentry
Success Pilot
(countywide)
Youth Justice Initiative’s
Program Manager
• Contra Costa was awarded the contract in March. And as of yesterday,
we’ve hired a YJI Program Manager: Jennifer Lynn-Whaley, PhD.
• A native Californian, Dr. Lynn-Whaley holds a PhD in Justice, Law, and
Society from American University and an undergraduate degree from
University of California at Berkeley.
• Dr. Lynn-Whaley has nearly 20 years’ experience in justice-related
issues, including violence prevention, community engagement and
project management.
Youth Justice Initiative’s
Program Manager
Among Dr. Lynn-Whaley’s credentials:
• Authored briefs on the role of trauma in gun violence; issues faced by
children of incarcerated parents; and juvenile mental health courts
• Developed a training curriculum for probation officers on Disproportionate
Minority Contact for the state of California
• Served as Juvenile Detention Alternatives Coordinator for Washington, DC
Youth Justice Initiative:
What It Means
Our proposal to create the Youth Justice Initiative was very highly
scored by the State of California: CoCo continues to be a leader in
innovative approaches to criminal justice reform.
The formation of a YJI Steering Committee of both county agencies and
community-based organizations will help advance best practices for
youth justice all across our county.
With the addition of a new Manager with outstanding qualifications,
we’re building our County’s ability to promote real progress.
Questions?
For more information, contact Director Devorah Levine at
[email protected]
Update on the
Reentry Recidivism Grants
Presented by:
Donté Blue, County Reentry Coordinator
Context
• Last fall, Contra Costa County was awarded $250,000 from California’s
Bureau of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) to support
community-based efforts to reduce both crime and recidivism.
• Last October, the Board of Supervisors decided to allocate:
• $100,000 to support programs for youth
• $150,000 to support programs for adults ($50K in each region)
• On 3/16/15, the County issued a Request for Proposals
• On 4/17/15, the County announced its grant recommendations
Recommendations: Adults
The grant recommendations for adults are as follows:
• East: $50,000 to Rubicon Programs to provide rental assistance in
Sober Living Environments (SLEs) along with career and financial
coaching to build clients’ self-sufficiency.
• Central: JFK University College of Law, $50,000 to establish a
Probation Assistance Clinic to help people get their driver’s
licenses back.
• West: Reach Fellowship, $50,000 to support a residential and job
training program for women.
Recommendations: Youth
The grant recommendations for youth are as follows:
• Bay Area Community Resources: $50,000 to engage at-risk young
people in East Contra Costa in a comprehensive training,
employment, and leadership development program.
• RYSE Center: $50,000 to provide justice-involved youth with pre-release transition planning, technology training, and social
media development focused on youth-reentry.
Questions?
For more information,
contact Donté Blue at [email protected]
Cultivating Employers
as Partners
Presented by:
Donté Blue, County Reentry Coordinator
Employment Matters
A job means more than just an income:
• Provides a chance to make a positive contribution to your family
• Boosts individual self-worth, self-determination, and motivation
• Commits time and energy to productive, work-related activities
and colleagues
• Job stability and increased wages reduce criminal behaviors
Producing Well-Trained Candidates is
Just One Piece of the Puzzle
• In CoCo, we’ve invested $2.2 million in AB 109 funds. • Most has been to support individual job readiness:
•
Building soft skills
•
Developing new cognitive skills
•
Career coaching
•
Vocational training
• These things are important, but….
But What We Haven’t Done (Yet):
The County has invested AB109 funds to support job
training, but it hasn’t (yet) paid attention to educating
employers.
We do have Ban the Box policies in some cities, which means that candidates can’t be eliminated in the first round.
But Ban the Box doesn’t help employers understand
the benefits of hiring people with criminal records.
What We Could Do NOW
• To increase the demand for employees, we need to
increase employers’ interest and willingness.
• The labor market is hot right now: We can seize this
opportunity to connect jobs with people who need
and want them.
• We could ask the CAB and the CCP to invest
unspent AB109 funds to cultivate employers’
understanding of the benefits of this labor pool.
A Key Piece: Expanding Employers’
Interest & Willingness
Public education campaigns can expand demand by
building employers’ awareness, interest, and willingness:
• Help them understand that hiring people with criminal
records can be good for business, thanks to tax credits
and subsidies
•
Help them understand that hiring people with criminal
records brings little risk, thanks to bonding programs and
other services to support employers
Here’s One Solution
from Alameda County:
Cultivating Fair Chance
in Employment
Presented by:
Meredith Desautels, Racial Justice Staff Attorney, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights
Cultivating Fair Chance Employment
“I’ve seen how a job makes all the difference. When I give someone a
chance and he becomes my best employee, I know that I’m doing right
by my community.” – Local Business Owner
Meredith Desautels,
Racial Justice Staff Attorney,
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights
[email protected]
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights (LCCR)
● LCCR was founded in 1968
● Program areas:
○
Immigrant Justice
○
Community Empowerment and Economic Justice
○
Racial Justice
● Second Chance Legal Clinic
● Legal Services for Entrepreneurs
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
LCCR’s Second Chance Legal Clinic
● Free legal advice for people with past arrests and
convictions
● Provide services in the following areas:
○
Criminal Records Remedies (i.e. “expungement”)
○
Employment
○
Occupational Licensing
○
Housing
○
Driver’s licenses
○
Background checks
● Twice-monthly clinic in SF
● Call hotline to sign up: 415-814-7610
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
National Employment Law Project
● Second Chance Labor Project based in Oakland
○
Promotes the economic opportunities of people with
criminal records by reducing employment barriers
● Provides policy advocacy, trainings, research
and technical assistance, network facilitation
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
Alameda County Innovations Fund
● Alameda County Public Health Department
● $389,336 grant
● Awarded by Alameda County’s Innovations in Reentry project
● Funded by AB 109 money
● 18-month grant
○
Nov. 2013 - April 2015
○
LCCR is primary grantee
○
Subcontractors:
÷
NELP
÷
MDC Consulting & Wonder for Good (Public education campaign consultants)
● www.lccr.com/programs/cultivating-fair-chance-employment-alameda-county/
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
Cultivating Fair Chance Employment in Alameda County
Four Primary Project Components:
1.
Outreach and engagement with business community
2.
Business Leaders Summit on Reentry
3.
Legal trainings:
4.
÷
Employers
÷
Workforce Development Organizations
÷
People with Records
Public education campaign – “A Good Hire”
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
1. Business Community Outreach
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
Business Community Outreach
● Wide range of stakeholders
Advisory
experts
Business
associations
Government
partners
Businesses
Communitybased
organizations
● Presentations to business associations
Workforce
development
partners
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
Business Community Outreach
● What are businesses
concerned about?
● What resonates with
businesses?
○
Workplace safety and
security
○
Employer-to-employer
perspective
○
Negligent hiring
○
Profit and the bottom line
○
Retention of employees
○
Hiring local
○
Fear based on stereotypes
and lack of information
○
Success stories and
personalizing the issue
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
2. Business Leaders Summit on Reentry
LCCR and NELP convened the Alameda County Business Leaders Summit on Reentry in June and July 2014
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
33
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
34
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
35
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
Business Leaders Summit on Reentry
Strategies for Creating Fair Employment Opportunities
for People with Criminal Records:
Findings from the Alameda County Business Leaders Summit on Reentry
www.lccr.com/wp-content/uploads/Strategies-For-Creating-Fair-EmploymentOpportunities.pdf
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
Business Leaders Summit on Reentry
Key findings from for-profit attendees:
•
57% had hired someone with a record
•
By end of the Summit, 94% were willing to hire or employ qualified job
applicants with criminal records at their companies
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
Business Leaders Summit on Reentry
What would help employers expand hiring?
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
3. Trainings
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
Worker and Workforce Development Trainings
● Three Workforce Development trainings
Partners included:
÷
Center for Employment Opportunities
÷
Oakland PIC
÷
Rubicon
● Five Workers Rights trainings
Partners included:
÷
Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS)
÷
Oakland Parole Office
÷
Ella Baker Center
÷
Pathways 2 Resilience
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
Employer Trainings
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
Employer Trainings
Materials:
● Primer on Background Check and Screening Laws
● Best Practices Guide to Fair Chance Hiring
● Guide to Employer Incentives and Subsidies
● One-pager – “The Business Case”
● www.lccr.com/programs/cultivating-fair-chance-
employment-alameda-county/education-trainings/
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
Employer Trainings
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
4. Public Education Campaign
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
Public Education Campaign
● Website: agoodhire.com
● LinkedIn Campaign
● Direct business outreach
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
Public Education Campaign
Six Reasons to Hire a Person with a Record
1.
You may be missing out on undiscovered talent.
2.
Many companies have successfully hired people with past
records.
3.
Employer subsidies and tax incentives can help your bottom
line.
4.
Hiring people with arrest or conviction records can help your
local economy.
5.
You could be violating the law if your company is not open to
hiring people with past records.
6.
Hiring people with arrest or conviction records can help public
safety.
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
Website and Videos
● www.lccr.com/programs/cultivating-fair-
chance-employment-alameda-county/publiceducation-campaign/
● Smoke Berkeley BBQ Restaurant
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
Criminal Records No Barrier To Small-Business Success
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
Thank you!
Contact:
Meredith Desautels, Staff Attorney
Racial Justice, Second Chance Legal Clinic Director
[email protected]
Miya Saika Chen, Staff Attorney
Community Empowerment and Economic Justice
[email protected]
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
Update on the Reentry Center
Presented by:
Rebecca Brown, Interim Center Director
Progress is continuing!
• The Center will be located at 912 Macdonald Avenue.
• Demolition and sandblasting are complete.
• The tenant-improvement construction is scheduled to start
next Monday!
• The Site Planning team has selected colors, finishes,
lighting, furnishings, and technology.
• The winner of the community logo contest will be
announced in May, and the logo will be unveiled next
month. (Keep an eye out for our first emails!)
Staffing Update
• Earlier this month, Center Director Jennifer Costa accepted a
position at another Rubicon program, in Alameda County.
• The Steering Committee and Rubicon will conduct a robust
recruitment campaign to identify an outstanding Director for
the Center.
• During the search, the Chair of the Center’s Steering
Committee, Rebecca Brown, has been appointed as the
Center’s Interim Director until a replacement is found.
• Rebecca has been closely involved from the project’s start,
and there will be no delay as the result of this interim plan.
Questions?
For more information, contact Interim Director Rebecca Brown at
[email protected]
Stay Involved! Invite Others!
Reentry Solutions Group at a Glance:
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How Often: Last Tuesday of every month
What Time: Noon to 2:00 PM
Place: Bermuda Room, Civic Center
Next meeting: May 26, 2015
Download these slides at www.reentrysolutionsgroup.org
Join our mailing list: Text “reentry” to 22828