The National H.I.R.E. Network (HIRE) engages in national policy activities to improve the availability of supports and services for individuals with criminal records and individuals re-entering the community from incarceration. HIRE promotes specific legislative issues that affect people with criminal records and participate in networking and coalition building on a national level to help involve more organizations in the work of reducing barriers to successful re-entry.

HIRE has been focusing on a number of different legislative initiatives to help people with criminal records better integrate into society and have enhanced access to employment opportunities.

The Second Chance Act
HIRE continues to advocate for passage of the Second Chance Act, legislation that would help states and communities better assist people returning from the criminal justice system reintegrate into society. Although the legislation did come close to passage at the end of the 109th Congressional session, the Second Chance Act has not yet been approved by Congress.

Bipartisan legislation expected to be reintroduced in both the House and the Senate in this 110th Congress, the Second Chance Act would create a reentry discretionary grant program that would help states and local jurisdictions review and improve their reentry services, including employment, drug addiction and mental health treatment, and housing. The Second Chance Act would also create a federal inter-agency reentry council, a system for review of certain federal barriers to reentry, and a grant program to support mentoring of children of incarcerated individuals. Click here for a summary of the Second Chance Act

During the last 109th Congress, the House version of the Second Chance Act, H.R. 1704, had 114 bipartisan co-sponsors and was led by Congressmen Chris Cannon (R-UT), and Danny Davis (D-IL). Click here for a list of co-sponsors of H.R. 1704. The Senate version of the legislation from the last Congressional session, S.1934, had 37 bi-partisan co-sponsors and has been championed by Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA), Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Joe Biden (D-DE). Click here for a list of co-sponsors of S. 1934

Hearings on the Second Chance Act have taken place in the House and are expected to occur in the Senate in the new year. H.I.R.E. Network staff continues to work with numerous other criminal justice, prison health care, treatment, housing, religious, reentry and prisoner’s rights advocates to secure additional co-sponsors and passage of the Second Chance Act.

Click here to become a member of the H.I.R.E. Network and receive our email updates featuring updates on the Second Chance Act and other Federal legislation.

Additional Reentry Legislation
In addition to the Second Chance Act, HIRE has supported additional pieces of reentry legislation and will continue to push for their reintroduction and passage in the first session of the 110th Congress.

Congressman John Conyers’ (D-MI) “Re-Entry Enhancement Act” would create a grant program to help states and localities better meet the needs of people reentering from the criminal justice system. HIRE is particularly pleased that this legislation includes a number of provisions directed at removing barriers to employment for people with criminal records and is hopeful that this legislation will be reintroduced in this 110th Congress. Click here for a summary of Congressman Conyers’ bill.

Legislation to Repeal the Ban on Federal Financial Aid for Students with Drug Convictions
For a number of years, HIRE has advocated for repeal of a provision of the Higher Education Act that delays or denies federal financial aid to people convicted of drug offenses. In December of 2005, Congress did approve a partial repeal of the ban that is a significant victory for students with past drug convictions. Click here for a summary of the current federal financial aid ban signed into law in February 2006.

With this change to the law, only students who are receiving federal financially aid at the time they receive a conviction for a drug offense will be affected by the ban. Individuals who are convicted of drug possession and sales offenses prior to their receiving federal student aid will not be penalized. HIRE believes that this partial repeal is a step in the right direction of increasing access to education and employment for people with past drug convictions.

Funding for Programs Serving People With Criminal Records
HIRE tracks the annual funding process for federal programs serving people with criminal records.

In November 2005, Congress approved the Department of Justice funding bill for the 2006 fiscal year which runs from October 2005 through September 2006. H.I.R.E. monitors programs including the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) program, which provides addiction treatment services to individuals in prison, the Drug Courts program, the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program, and the President’s Reentry Initiative.

Click here for a funding chart comparing this year’s funding for federal programs serving people with criminal records with the President’s budget request and last year’s funding amounts

Work Opportunity Tax Credit
HIRE monitors Congressional action to extend and/or reauthorize the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC). The WOTC is a federal tax credit that provides an incentive for employers to hire, train, and retain job seekers who are among nine groups—including former felons—who often experience barriers to employment. This credit can reduce an employer’s federal income tax liability by as much as $2,400 per qualified new worker.

The WOTC was extended in December of 2005, after Congress passed legislation that the President signed into law which included a provision reauthorizing the WOTC. This legislation extends the WOTC to retroactively cover wages paid for individuals who began work after December 31, 2005, when the program expired; the WOTC program has been extended until January 1, 2008.

The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) provides an incentive for employers to hire, train, and retain job seekers, including “qualified ex-felons,” who often experience barriers to employment. The WOTC is available to employers who employ people from one of eight targeted groups, including “qualified ex-felons.” A “qualified ex-felon” has been defined as an individual who (1) has a state or federal felony conviction; (2) is a member of an economically disadvantaged family and (3) is hired within in one year of release from prison or from date of conviction. This credit can reduce an employer’s federal income tax liability by as much as $2,400 per qualified new worker.

The new law will:

• Eliminate the WOTC’s family income requirement for individuals with felony convictions. Under current law, eligibility for the WOTC is limited to individuals with felony records who have an annual family income of 70 percent or less than the Bureau of Labor Statistics lower living standard. Under H.R. 6111, this requirement will be removed, allowing people with felony convictions to be covered by the WOTC regardless of annual family income.
  
• Raise the WOTC age eligibility ceiling. Currently, the WOTC program restricts people from certain types of households from participating in the WOTC program based on age requirements. This legislation would raise the age eligibility ceiling from 24 to 39 years of age for members of food stamp households.
  
• Combine the WOTC with the Welfare-to-Work Tax Credit. Supporters of this provision, including the Bush Administration, have argued that combining these tax credits into one program could result in greater efficiency and increased program participation.

Click here for more information on the Work Opportunity Tax Credit.

Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Reauthorization
HIRE continues to work with Congressional staff on the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act to strengthen provisions in the legislation relating to services for people with criminal records. The WIA sets out the federal workforce development system. Despite very little movement on the WIA reauthorization in the last Congress, HIRE continues to monitor the Committees with jurisdiction over the bill to identify potential opportunities for progress in this new 110th Congress.

Legislation to reauthorize the WIA, H.R. 27, the “Job Training Improvement Act of 2005,” was re-introduced and passed the House in early March 2005. H.R. 27 included “ex-offenders” as a defined group within the hard-to-serve population that is targeted to receive services. The full Senate approved their version of WIA reauthorization legislation, S. 1021, in July. This legislation also included “ex-offenders” in the hard-to-serve population definition. The differences between the House and Senate bills prevented Congress from reaching consensus on a final bill before the end of the 109th session; the House and Senate will need to introduce new legislation in the 110th Congress to reauthorize the program.

HIRE will continue to monitor legislation to reauthorize the WIA program in the 110th Congress.

Click to view comments submitted to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce which reflect our recommendations regarding these improvements.

Click to view our letter sent to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions detailing recommendations to improve WIA from the H.I.R.E. Network and our national, state and local partners.

Federal Juvenile Justice Legislation
As part of the National H.I.R.E. Network’s Youth Reentry Project, staff monitors and seeks opportunities for advocacy to help young people with juvenile and/or criminal records successfully reenter society.

HIRE has tracked a number of pieces of legislation aimed at gang-involved youth and provided recommendations to Congress on how this legislation could be better tailored toward gang prevention initiatives and other efforts that would help court-involved juveniles to access educational and employment opportunities. Click here to view a copy of the letter HIRE sent to the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee

HIRE will continue to seek opportunities to influence federal policy related to youth reentry.

Legislation to Increase Educational Opportunities in Prison and Following Incarceration
HIRE recognizes that successful reentry is contingent on full civic participation by people after leaving prison. However, there are a number of legal and policy barriers that lessen the chances for successful reentry. One of the most harmful of these barriers is the lack of educational opportunities in prison and after incarceration. Research has shown that incarcerated individuals who receive a post-secondary education prior to their release from incarceration are much less likely to recidivate and are more likely to successfully reintegrate back into the community. In addition, advanced educational opportunities will help to prepare formerly incarcerated individuals to compete in the labor market, join the workforce, and positively contribute to the economy.

HIRE continues to encourage and support efforts to increase post-secondary educational opportunities to incarcerated individuals.

TANF Reauthorization: Getting Drug Treatment to Count as a Work Activity
HIRE continues to work toward getting drug treatment to count as a work activity under the TANF/welfare law. It is estimated that between 10 and 20 percent of adult welfare recipients have problems with alcohol and other drugs. By allowing essential drug treatment services to be counted as a work activity under the TANF/welfare law, more women will successfully move from welfare to work and more families will remain healthy and intact. Click here for a fact sheet on why drug treatment should be counted as a work activity under the TANF/welfare law

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released interim final regulations on the TANF program and how certain activities should be counted as work, including addiction treatment. Under the regulations, substance abuse treatment counts as a work activity under the “Job Search and Job Readiness Assistance” category which is defined by HHS as the act of seeking or obtaining employment, preparation to seek or obtain employment, including life skills training, and substance abuse treatment, mental health treatment, or rehabilitation activities for those who are otherwise employable. To count as a work activity under TANF, the treatment or therapy must be determined to be necessary and certified by a qualified medical or mental health professional and can count towards no more than six weeks per fiscal year of job search and job readiness assistance, no more than four of which may be consecutive. If an individual participates for more than four consecutive weeks or a total of six weeks in a fiscal year, the State may not count those hours toward the participation rate.

Click here to read comments submitted to HHS by the Legal Action Center and the State Associations of Addiction Services
TANF Reauthorization: Lifting the Ban on TANF Benefits for Individuals with Drug Felony Convictions

TANF Reauthorization: Lifting the Ban on TANF Benefits for Individuals with Drug Felony Convictions

HIRE is also continuing to advocate for repeal of the federal welfare law's lifetime ban on the receipt of public assistance benefits and food stamps for people convicted of drug felonies, regardless of whether they paid their debt to society, achieved recovery from their addiction, or otherwise demonstrated rehabilitation and ability to fully re-enter society. Click here for a fact sheet on why Congress should lift the ban on TANF/welfare benefits and food stamps.

Although in 109th Session Congress moved forward with a package of budget reconciliation legislation that included certain TANF/welfare provisions, these pieces of legislation did not include any language to repeal the ban on individuals with drug felony convictions from receiving TANF benefits and Food Stamps. In October 2005, Congressman Danny Davis (D-IL) did author and try to offer an amendment for full repeal in the House Education and the Workforce Committee, the Congressman’s amendment was ruled out of order. The H.I.R.E. Network will continue to work with advocates nationwide to seek additional Congressional support for lifting the ban. Currently 34 states and the District of Columbia have either eliminated or modified the ban.

For more information, please contact Alexa Eggleston at aeggleston@lac-dc.org or Gabrielle de la Gueronniere at gdelagueronniere@lac-dc.org.

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