State must do more on prison reentry issue

The criminal justice system has failed communities throughout the country. The idea of corrections, punishment and labeling people as their worst mistake has impacted my life in a number of ways and more importantly, it’s impacted the way that people in my community are viewed.

I spent 14 years in federal prison and missed out on some of the most important family milestones that my loved ones face. I knew that the people in my life were suffering from the consequences of my mistakes. Being the father of six amazing children, there were struggles that were attached to my incarceration and I’ve dedicated myself to redemption and reconciliation in my five years of being home. I’ve watched the world around me change and I’m proud of the work I’ve done to bring reforms to the justice system.

As the national organizer of #cut50, I’ve seen hearts and minds change from the realistic effects of mass incarceration but part of the change that needs to come starts in the process of reentry upon release.

I previously served as director of the Mayor’s Initiative for Reentry Affairs in the City of Bridgeport. I knew it was important to develop systems and practices for the city to coordinate employment, housing, access to treatment and other services for all persons impacted by the criminal justice system both in and returning to the city after incarceration.

While Connecticut has made significant strides in reducing its prison population to the lowest level in 25 years, as well as state occupational licensure reform for barbers and hairdressers, there are scores of occupations that people currently incarcerated are being trained to perform, but are prohibited from being certified or licensed in postrelease. Why should we arbitrarily exclude the people who successfully passed welding, carpentry, landscaping, masonry or other skilled laborer training in prison when there’s no nexus of moral turpitude to their offense? Why should an offense that happened a significant amount of time ago be as current a trending topic on Twitter, precluding someone from being a 9to5 working, taxpaying citizen?

Connecticut needs to and can go much further than we have been on the issue of criminal justice reform.

Connecticut is third in the nation, disappointingly spending $41,000 more to incarcerate an individual than we do on our children’s education. We need smart, commonsense legislation like the Clean Slate Act that would make expungement for people automatic after they remain crimefree for a set period of time.

We need legislation like the Life & Liberty bill that would prevent insurance companies from discriminating against people with convictions trying to obtain life insurance. We need to ensure that, whether it is more than the 1,000 people released annually to the state’s largest city, or as few as 10 released to the smallest town, they have an effective reentry plan at least six months prior to their release, and access to appropriate mental health or substance abuse treatment, supportive housing services, or can engage in the competitive job market without fear of further exclusion.

While leading the charge for sensible change and reforms to the reentry process, I’ve witnessed people becoming the best versions of themselves after returning home from prison because of valuable resources being made available.

It’s our responsibility to provide meaningful resources that set people up for success, rather than failure. Since I was released from federal custody, I’ve been fighting for sensible policy reforms. My experience of working with the Connecticut legislature for successful enactment of legislation related to reforms to pretrial practices, expanding access to licenses for people living with criminal records, limiting asset forfeiture practices by law enforcement, strengthening reentry practices and services for people returning from prison, and currently serving as the national organizer for #cut50 to uplift the voices of those who have suffered from mass incarceration.

At #cut50 we’ve developed the First Step to Second Chances guide, a first of its kind resource directory that connects those returning home under the First Step Act with necessary tools, information, and resources to have a successful reentry into society. We’ve built partnerships with Lyft, Coursera, Talkspace and countless other companies — some of which are Connecticutbased — to provide fair chances to people coming home from prison.

It is on us and it’s our continued responsibility to fight for freedom and justice for all.

If people put their political differences to the side, focus on the importance of redemption, fair chances and reuniting families, there is no limit to what our communities can accomplish.

Associated Press A man transports bags of ice at his job in New Haven after finding employment with the help of a prison reentry program in that city.