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Public media are made possible by PNC and the United Black Fund of Greater Cleveland, Inc.. Good afternoon and welcome to the City Club of Cleveland, where we are devoted to conversations of consequence that help democracy thrive.

It's Friday, April 25th.

And I'm Maria Foster, president and CEO of Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry.

At first sight, I think my thank my staff partner, Ashley Davis, for ringing the opening gong in honor of this year's 2025.

Charles RC Forum on Reentry.

Ashley as a community coordinator team leader at Elliman, she works out of the 2100 Lakeside Men's Homeless shelter and is a graduate of our Shopping for Change program.

Feel free to applaud her and we are grateful to Ashley and all of our staff partners for their commitment to the important work of LMM to provide vital social services and at the same time tackle policy issues, several of which we will address in today's conversation.

Angela In a July 2024 CNBC report, Ohio ranked seventh in business opportunities but received an F grade when it comes to workforce.

Employers are looking for workers to advance their businesses and constantly talk about the need for workforce development.

Meanwhile, there are thousands of justice impacted individuals who would welcome the opportunity to work in these jobs.

Connecting these two groups would help create a massive increase in the workforce pool and lift the entire economy.

Research suggests that Ohio's expansive collateral sanctions limit access to more than one in four jobs statewide, costing individuals an estimated 3.4 billion in foregone wages, an artificially constraining access to talent for business.

So how can public policy play a role in helping bridge the gap between these two groups?

Reduce employment barriers and assist in providing more individuals with second chances in employment and in life?

Joining us on stage to discuss what community leaders can do to help is Devon Hickman, director of the Center for Employment Opportunities.

District three, State Senator Michele Reynolds and Kaleigh Shupp, Staff attorney at the Ohio Justice and Policy Center.

Moderating the conversation is Piet Van Lier, senior researcher at Policy Matters, Ohio.

If you have questions for our panelists, you can text it to 3305415794.

That's 3305415794.

And City Club staff will try to work it into the Q&A portion of the program.

Members and friends of the City Club of Cleveland please join me in welcoming our guests today.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Maria, for the introduction.

I'm here today because several years ago a colleague of mine had policy matters.

I wrote a report with somebody from the Ohio Justice and Policy Center on Collateral sanctions that are really, as Maria outlined, that limits so many opportunities not only for jobs and also even volunteering in their communities as they return home to their communities.

So that's what we're here to talk about.

So how do we what are the impacts and how do we move past this?

What are the policy ways and the practices we can do to to change how this works?

So my first question is to you, Devin Hickman at the Center for Employment Opportunities.

You provide people return to their communities with immediate paid employment and other kinds of support skills training.

So talk a little bit about what people are facing when they first return to their communities and how.

How your organization helps them.

Absolutely.

First and foremost, though, I do have to do this fire started.

I just wanted to say thank you and much appreciation to Mr. Charles.

RC.

So when we look at individuals that come to CEO, I think the most important thing to remember is this We're talking about families.

These are these are moms, dads, grandparents, individuals who are coming back into roles as caregivers and caretakers.

So our goal is to really help them manage the things that we manage every day.

Where are we going to live?

How are we going to pay our bills?

How are we going to put food on the table to take care of our children?

When you come to CEO, our goal is immediate, immediate impact.

So within three days we can have somebody working and getting paid on one of our transition transitional work crews.

We have a two day paid orientation.

By day three, you're working on a transitional job in that transitional job.

We're reframing for you what work ethic looks like.

The difference with with a lot of our participants is we don't really know where someone is coming in.

We don't know what scale they where they are on the scale of workforce.

We have people who come to us of master's degrees.

Individuals who come to us and never had a job before are young adult population.

So we really utilize our transitional work skills to identify what skills someone has.

That happens about 3 to 4 days a week.

The fifth day that person is in the office working with the job coach or job developer, working through the soft skills or working through some barriers that they may have.

We consider ourselves a convener.

We work with many of you in the audience to help with mental health.

LMM We partner with you guys for housing.

We try to do whatever we can to resolve any barriers that someone may have not only to working but to just staying home.

Once we get those barriers and so we get people placed in full time employment in addition to getting someone placed in full time employment, we have a retention specialist that stays with them for 365 days, meeting with them once a month, incentivizing them to send in pay stubs and share with us how their work experience is going.

What this does is allows us to have conversations with them about how to manage up with their boss, how to work well with others, how to make sure if they have barriers with transportation, how they can get to work, if they have barriers and they don't have the work clothes that they need and they may feel embarrassed if they have to answer questions about their conviction.

We're there for 365 days to provide that support, and that's how we measure success.

Getting someone full time employment after renting for 365 days.

So the amazing work that you're doing and thank you.

So Carrie Sharp is an attorney with the Second Chance Project at the Ohio Justice and Policy Policy Center.

You provide legal services, outreach and education for people dealing with these collateral sanctions, those restrictions.

Talk about where you come in on this process as people return to their communities.

So I do a few different things at my job.

I a lot of it is helping with record sealing and expungement and really kind of removing those legal barriers.

I work, I do secure certificates of qualifications for employment.

That's part of my job as well.

I work on the Ohio governor's expedited pardon program, so I'm really my job is really looking at the legal barriers that someone is facing, you know, coming out of the the prison system and seeing what we can do to kind of help erase or at least in some way, shape or form, alleviate those barriers.

So, you know, expungement, delete, destroys or raises.

The record ceiling is a little bit different.

They all do a little bit different things.

But the point is to allow our clients to breathe easy and to move forward past what could be the worst day of their life, because nobody is defined by the worst day in their life.

And that's that's really what I do with my job is I help people understand that they are more than what's on a piece of paper about them and really help them in a legal sense, eliminate certain barriers and collateral consequences that come with having a conviction on your record.

That's yeah, that's really what I do with my day.

Senator Reynolds, not only are you a legislator and able to advocate and work on this issue from the from the state legislature, but you're also an entrepreneur.

The focus on housing and workforce development.

Could you talk about where you fit into this, this puzzle of of response?

Absolutely.

Well, thank you, Pete, and thank you all for being here.

It's a pleasure to be back at the city Club of Cleveland to have this important conversation.

My life's work has been providing housing and employment services to individual us who are just as impacted and having people have a place to call home.

That is actually what kind of catapulted me to now being a state legislator.

But in 2006, I started a nonprofit organization that is faith based, and many people know it as the exit program.

At the time it was, you know, we called folks ex-offenders.

Now we call them justice impacted, but it stands for Ex-offenders in Transition.

And I started that organization as just a compassionate landlord, someone who actually saw a need in my community that individuals were coming home from prison and just did not have a place to call home.

And I saw that as very problematic for a number of reasons.

Obviously, it impacted our community greatly because, you know, as we will talk about one in three black men between the ages of 18 and 35 go to prison.

And so that I'm a mother of two African-American males.

So that stifled me.

But also our homeless shelter system in Franklin County, if you will, was exacerbated by individuals coming home and not having a place to transition.

And so the homeless system that was not necessarily designed the shelter system wasn't designed as a reentry solution.

It was designed for chronically homeless people.

And those two things were merging.

And unfortunately, we were losing one of our shelters due to budget constraints or whatever.

So we had a high number of individuals on the streets that were transitioning from incarcerated settings and not having a place to go.

And obviously that was a public safety risk as well.

So in 2006, I decided as a entrepreneur, a private landlord, that I would open my doors to developing transitional housing for formerly incarcerated men and women.

And I started with one house that I completely furnished.

And they would go to like a work a day pay a day situation.

And we made it a nominal cost of like $10 a day to stay there.

And little did I know the demand was so great that within four months I had four houses.

This is before I had a contract with Department of Rehab and Correction.

They actually came to me and said, Look, this is a private solution to a public problem.

This is working.

We need more individuals like you to do something like this, and we're going to put together a request for proposal.

We're inviting you to apply for it, and we're going to call it the Independent housing program.

So that was something that was modeled after what I was doing as a private citizen.

Fast forward, we did apply for that contract.

We started with a humble 15 bed contract, and that contract now we house about 126 people across the state of Ohio.

And in our height we were in Columbus, Akron, Mansfield, Chillicothe and Cincinnati.

We've since left Cincinnati.

We were there for about ten years.

So we're in four counties across Ohio, 126 individuals.

We now also have Department of Youth Services and a federal contract.

So we provide this housing to individuals and have been since 2006, housed over 6000 individuals.

We've also created 200 jobs from that because we've partnered with DRC to be able to go into the prison system and open up a workforce development program called Coffee Crafters, teaching inmates or residents that we like to call them residents, an industry recognized certification in barista.

You know, everybody loves their coffee and it's a multibillion dollar industry.

So we thought if we could just get 1% of that and people love their coffee, they're not going to forget to drink their coffee.

They may forget to kiss their kids or their spouse.

They may be they may forget to do that every day, but they're not going to forget that cup of coffee.

So we thought if we could tap into that industry and train these individuals how to be baristas and operate their own coffee shops or work in a coffee shop and have an industry recognized certification that it would work.

It was wildly popular.

This was right before COVID.

Wildly popular.

We were in our heyday four prisons, seven cafes.

We actually not only taught them, we set up actual coffee shops in the prison and became a vendor in the commissary system.

They would buy their their rewards cards, if you will.

They would buy a little card that would allow them to go in and do point of sale purchases so that they could go to one of the prison cafes from a barista and order mocha smoothies, lattes, whatever you could make at Starbucks they made.

And then, of course, COVID shut all that down because you just couldn't get into the prison.

So anyway, having said that, I love the work that we're doing now.

I actually get to take that passion to the state house and represent 350,000 constituent ants across the state of Ohio.

And I'm pushing, you know, my passion for reentry and making this an actual solution to a problem, because right now, workforce is one of the major challenges in Ohio.

And now reentry is not becoming just a wants that we need that we want returning citizens to be in the workforce.

It's a need now and I'm glad that we're shifting that conversation and that the pendulum has shifted to the center mentioned issue.

We can't really skip right.

The racism that's embedded in the criminal criminal legal system and how that gets transferred to the workforce, to the labor market because of the disparate impact on black men, especially so.

Hickman Could you talk about that and or either of you like to comment more on that?

Absolutely.

When we look at the impact that the criminal justice system has on black men, the over sentencing, the extended time that black men spend away from their families, what that does from a family perspective is it now takes the nurturer, and the nurturer has to become the provider, which means our children no longer have what they need to get to a point where they can achieve what they're capable of.

So when you look at the impact of overincarceration, you know, for sentencing, you see black men being taken out of the household, which means that they're out of the church, which means that they're out of the family, which means that they're not there.

They're no longer leading their youth.

This can be represented in our very low graduation rates from high school, which means that we no longer have a priority on education.

So when we talk about the workforce and we talk about economic mobility and jobs that people can get without being able to do their jobs, who can get where they can thrive and not just make enough to get by.

Individuals are going to prison at very young ages.

I mean, I talk about graduate school, about graduation rates being low.

We have police officers in our schools.

So now instead of being suspended, kids are being sent to DUI ass.

So the interjection for them into the criminal justice system is starting so early that the opportunity to gain the skills that they need to compete for the jobs that are available, that can change the lives of their families just aren't there.

And we see that as CEO because of how they come to us.

Men and women who are 40, 50 years old just having their first job because they've been gone away from the workforce for so long.

And so when we look at that overall impact, we see how just the removal of the black man from the family prevents the growth and development of the children.

And that cycle just continues to repeat itself.

So, yes, I would definitely I mean, it's there's no question that we are as African-American black people, we are overrepresented in the criminal justice system.

There's no question.

Like I said, one in three African-American males are go to prison, will go to prison between 18 and 35.

And that has been shown and demonstrated.

And like I said, as a mother of two African-American males, that that scares me.

And I've you know, the work that I do, it's like, God, you know, for everybody's son and daughter that I've been able to impact, please spare and save mine.

I mean, I just I just feel that way.

There is a report that was issued by the federal government in 2006 called the $100 Billion Man.

And that book that report was signified the annual cost that the federal government with federal government was spending on the absence of fathers in the home $100 billion a year.

And so the impact to our communities is that for every time there is a father out of the home, we're spending this much money to help single female headed households with just that, just to be able to function in society.

And so that's huge because black people are overrepresented in the criminal justice system.

A lot of that money is spent.

And, you know, because of the absence of that.

So at the state, you know, we do have a commission on fatherhood.

I am on the board, the Ohio Commission on Fatherhood, which does an amazing job at trying to make sure that we get our fathers back into the equation of our families.

It's very, very important because we know that the lack of fatherhood means like a disintegration of the family.

And that's where a lot of our social ills are coming from.

We were designed to be in families, whether it's the traditional nuclear family or an extended family.

We were designed to be in families.

And so not having the father there has impacted us greatly.

And you can see that in our social programs that we are spending money for in child support collection and poverty, anti-poverty efforts in our schools, in mental health, all of that.

So we have to make sure that what we're doing is intentional and meaningful.

And we have to be thoughtful around this because anytime you pull a man out of the home, away from their children, whether black or white, it is going to impact the family.

So what I'm hearing today and from the previous conversation is it sounds like it takes a web of advocates and support systems and service providers to really help people return to their communities.

Could you talk about how you see this working or not working and how to make that better?

So when we think about crime and when we think about committing an offense, someone said this to me when I was in college and I've never forgotten it.

Crime happens as a result due to a lack of resource, due to a lack of resources.

That's that's that's where crime comes in.

You know, people are stealing to get food, stealing to, you know, provide for themselves.

Obviously, there are other factors at play.

But when we talk about trying to get people back to work, trying to put people into, you know, trying to make reentry successful community partnerships, employer partnership, legal partnerships are essential because they create this well-rounded social safety net.

And that social safety net helps, you know, prevent recidivist.

It helps prevent people going back to prison and making those partnerships.

You know, we work with Cincinnati works, we work with city Language, are two organizations down in Cincinnati that really help with workforce development and upon reentry.

You know, that's what we're thinking.

That's what we're keeping in mind when we do pop up clinics.

We're providing resources to individuals who may not know what relief is available to them, may not know that they can apply for record sealing or expungement, may not know that they can apply for, you know, a certificate of qualification for employment, may not know that they can apply for a pardon.

And all of those things stacked up against, you know, providing providing jobs, doing what CEO does, doing what Senator Reynolds does like that all creates this web, this well-rounded web that really can catch someone when they come out after, you know, being gone for, you know, 20, 30, 40 years.

And especially if they're going in at 16, that's there is so much value in in creating these robust safety nets.

And that's that's where that that's where the importance of that is.

And and in my work with the county Office of Reentry, Cleveland, ACP and CEO, what I found is we have to take more of an approach of I got a guy for that because they all exist.

Right.

All the resources are out here.

They all exist.

We have great employers with great job opportunities.

We have magnet in organizations like the hard headed women that create the great pathways to great careers.

And so what we have to do as employers, as training providers, as workforce development agencies, as government agencies, is say, when somebody hits our doors, that doesn't meet our criteria, not I'm sorry, we can't help you, but I have a guy for that.

So instead of me saying, Hey, I'm sorry you don't meet the criteria for CEO, you know what?

Let me get you connected to towards employment, because towards employment can help you because this is what you need.

Instead of an employer turning away somebody who identifies as being just as impacted because they don't have the necessary skills, they should be directly connected to training providers and refer that person over to a training provider.

That's the way that we have lasting impact.

If we are extremely intentional and how we work together in utilizing our resources.

In doing that, we'll see better results, we'll see more follow through and people will see the engagement of us working together.

I like to use this example.

Before being a CEO, I spent 15 years at Cleveland Clinic.

One of the most impressive things I saw was something called the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The Case Comprehensive Cancer Centers, Cleveland Clinic Metro at the time, Lake West University Hospital, all working together in the name of curing dis ease.

They share research, they share patients, they share facilities.

They share dollars all to fight cancer.

Now, from the outside looking in to a lot of people, they would think that all of those organizations are incompetent.

Some, but they're not.

They're working together.

Recidivism, justice, involvement is this is in our communities.

And we have to take that same approach of collaborating and being intentional and working together to solve this problem.

So from what sounds like there's a there is a good network, but what would help make that stronger or make it less informal?

Is it informal or does it need to be more established?

What would make it even more effective?

So I'll just say, I mean, I share what the panelists have had said.

I think it's really important that from a policy decision for a policy formulation that we look at inviting people, that have been justice impacted to help make those decisions, because those that are closest to the problem are closest to the solution.

And I think a lot of times we'll sit in rooms and we'll work for companies and we'll make decisions about what should happen and how we can impact their lives without bringing them to the table to ask them what would be helpful, what is a barrier that we can remove?

And I think that that's doing a disservice.

I know in my nonprofit organization, 80% of my staff are formerly incarcerated individuals.

It's not okay for me to go out and, you know, preach to the choir, but in my own organization, we'll help you, but we won't hire you.

And I don't think that that's right.

And so, you know, I would challenge I would challenge, you know, agencies that, yeah, you're doing the work.

But how many people in the in your organization are you hiring to be a part of that solution as well?

It's great.

You know, we definitely need to collaborate, but it starts at home.

And I think that that that's something that we need to do.

And I've done that.

I've taken that leadership also.

I am very happy that, you know, that times are changing.

As I alluded to, it's not just a want.

It's not just someone going up to someone and say, Well, you hire me.

Yes, I have a background and yes, I've done this, but will you give me a second chance?

It's no longer that day.

We're living in a day right now in Ohio, where we have more jobs and we have kids in school.

And there are there is a workforce need.

And we continue to be an economic driver here in Ohio to bring these big data centers here.

Intel, chip man refactoring like we have jobs here and we definitely need talent and what's going on.

Obviously, on a federal level, we have an immigration problem and where no matter where you are, what you think about immigration and what's going on on the federal level, the reality is, is that there is people here that have temporary visas that are working in these manufacturing jobs and things like that.

Well, depending on what happens next, they could be leaving.

And that leaves a huge hole and a manufacturing need, not just in manufacturing jobs, but in all kinds of jobs, construction jobs, all of that.

And we have right within our borders Americans that have backgrounds.

But it's an untapped population that need to be able to be considered for these jobs.

We have the solution.

We've always had the solution.

And we have Americans right here in our borders that can fulfill those jobs.

And so I am actually talking to companies right now in my district that are like, help us because we're afraid we're going to have to.

We have 105 people that may have to self-deport in two weeks.

And I said, I have 126 people right now in my housing programs that would love the opportunity to talk to you about a job.

So like I said, this is a different day now.

We're needed.

So I appreciate CEO and I appreciate Justice and Policy Center for getting us ready, because when it's your time to come up for that interview, you got to be ready.

So these tools are great.

Hey.

Yeah.

So before we go into the Q&A, I want to touch on one more question, which we've talked about a couple of times, but looking at policy and opportunities for change.

So a couple of things that I'm most aware of are the the growth that was getting rehabilitated.

Ohio's working.

It was introduced last year and we're looking to have it introduced again this year, which seeks to streamline the process for record sealing, thereby expedite the reintegration of people into their communities.

So that's one example of a state policy issue that will hopefully come before before you.

Senate Bill 143, which would extend the ban the bucks provisions to private businesses, if I understand correctly, and then the civic database, which would allow people to look at where should where are they allowed to work after they leave?

And so what should they train in?

Because often people do training and they won't really be able to get that job when they leave.

So talk about your priorities, what you'd like to change, what you'd like to see happen at the state level, or even local policies that would would would create change and new opportunities.

So starting with Senate Bill 143, which would expand ban the box to private employers, I think what's really wonderful about that proposal is, yes, it prohibits private employers from including a question on an initial employment application about a criminal history.

But what it also does is it provides the applicant an opportunity to push back against their own criminal background check and to provide, you know, a certificate of qualification for employment, to provide evidence of their own rehabilitation and say, you know, this is not the person I am.

It allows them to give context to what may pop up on a background check.

And that is so important because no law like it, it would eliminate this idea that, well, okay, so you check the box that you have a criminal record.

Okay, we're automatically throwing out your application.

That's not right.

That's not that's not good.

That's not helpful to anybody.

It allows for that second look from employers and it allows for that dialog between applicant and employer to happen so that maybe they can come to an understanding of, okay, now I understand your offenses in context.

And I see I see what you've done since then and and gives greater consideration to those person to those people.

The Grow Act is a little bit more complicated, automatic record sealing as somebody who works in record sealing and expungement.

That's what I do every day.

We may run into some constitutio I don't think it is inherently a bad thing.

I think it would be great.

But again, I think we also need to consider the constitutionality of it.

And like I said, I don't want that to be misconstrued as me saying I'm against it.

I'm absolutely for any sort of sealing any sort of expungement that helps people.

But I think that is something that we need to keep in mind With that, there is an understanding that there needs to be some level of just judicial review, Correct.

Can't be completely automated, Correct.

Yeah.

Anything that can be done to streamline it would write anything that can be done.

Maybe, maybe it's prosecutor initiated and that they send a notice to the person and say, hey, we're having a hearing you're eligible to have your record sealed show up to the hearing.

That would be you know that could be a potential workaround.

But yeah, the constitutionality issue with the GROW Act is it's in conflict with a case called Bloom State Ex rel.

Cincinnati Enquirer V Bloom.

That's not impressive that I know that name.

I read it yesterday.

Okay, let's be clear.

And it runs in it runs afoul of the open courts provision of the Ohio Constitution.

And so there are ways that we could probably work around.

And, you know, I'm meeting with Representative Williams, who proposed HB five and a few weeks to kind of talk with him about that and see, yeah, he for that we sponsor.

We hope for that.

Senator Reynolds, we have about a minute before we go to Q&A.

Given your position in the Legislature, I'd love to hear some of your thoughts around what could happen there.

So first of all, huge advocate for some of the tools that have been put like the SEC that we currently have for certificate of Qualified housing and QE for employment.

Prior to being a state senator, I was at the governor's office.

I was the faith based director for the state of Ohio, and I helped with the expedited pardon project, bringing that to the point that it is now.

And yeah, and that's what you do.

So very, very good program.

I myself have a piece of legislation, Senate Bill 83 that does eviction record sealing for evictions that are filed will be in San Francisco.

Okay.

So that is something I'm working on Senate, but I'm also the judiciary vice chair and the vice chair for workforce.

So all of this will be coming to my committees for me to hear from the Senate Bill 143 language that I took a look at that bill.

And I know that Senator Blessing and Senator Craig, I want to really hone in on what exactly it's doing.

And I'm going to say this because I also come from, you know, the business community nonprofit community, and I know what business owners and I can appreciate what we're business is on certain issues.

And no, I don't think that we should be discriminating on employment applications.

But as a business owner and I don't necessarily want someone coming to me and telling me how and who I have to necessarily hire, and I'm just telling you that's not going to work well with the business community.

I think we need to take a carrot and stick approach.

I think that's a better approach, is to say, Hey, you know, when you hire someone that has a background, here are the benefits of that.

We are incentivizing that in the state of Ohio by giving sort of not just tax credits, but some type of incentive, because when you're coming in the door and you're saying, okay, I'm giving you this, okay, you didn't give me a consideration.

We know we're an at will state of employment.

But and then if you push it back and they still don't hire you, and it could be for some reasons.

I mean, obviously background is one of them.

It could be that the contracts that they have or preclude them from having certain backgrounds, it could be because of their insurance, won't allow them to have a risk level tolerance for that.

There could be a number of reasons.

But then it says in this bill that you can then take that and open up a civil case with civil rights Commission.

Now you are being adversarial to a business owner and now they're just like, So I don't necessarily know that you win that way.

And I want to do something that solves problems for real.

I don't want to do things that are window dressing that look good, that make us feel good.

I want to see people employed for real.

So I'm saying that that, you know, when my colleagues come and they bring it, I'm going to drill them and I'm going to say, Have you thought about this?

Have you thought about that?

And how can we do this in a in a very tangible way?

That's really going to open doors for individuals who have been just as impacted and get them in the door with the business community?

And let's because now they need us, they need us.

So that's how it's you.

Thank you all.

So we're about to begin the audience Q&A for our live streaming radio audience or those just joining on family or senior researcher policy Matters, Ohio and the moderator for today's conversation.

Today, we're were discussing how we can increase access to reentry opportunities.

Know how is workforce, given the collateral sanctions that exist and bar so many people.

Joining me on stage is Devin Hickman, director of the Center for Employment Opportunities, Kelly Sharp, staff attorney for the Ohio Justice and Policy Center and District three, State Senator Michelle Reynolds.

We welcome questions from everyone city club members, guests and those joining via our live stream at City Club dot org or radio broadcast at 89.7 W WKSU ideastream Public Media.

If you'd like to text a question for our speakers, please text it to 305415794.

That's 3305415794.

And City Club staff will try to work into the program.

First question, please.

Hi, I'm Brian Bhalla with Towards Employment and Legal Works.

I want to thank the City Club for this terrific panel, and I want to thank Senator Reynolds especially for her work on HB 29 to stop suspending licenses when fines and fees haven't been paid.

And I actually have a question about that, which is the law is now in effect, the BMV has until May 9th to send out letters.

No letters have gone out.

To my knowledge and I want to ask the panel and maybe people in this room what we are doing to make sure that this bill is actually implemented so that people actually get their licenses back.

By my calculation, because the retroactive nature of this, there are tens of thousands of people who will be eligible to get their licenses back.

Thank you, Senator Reynolds.

However, the procedures from what I can understand, forgetting those license back, well, let's just say they make Rube Goldberg look simplistic.

So I'll sit down and I'd love to hear what people are saying.

So I appreciate that.

I think that this is a great opportunity for our advocacy communities, those that are working in these reentry circles and spaces.

This is the time to go out and and do that advocacy advocacy so that people know about it because it's no good if there's a resource and a tool like the CQ and a, C, Q, E, and all of the other things that we've been working on, if nobody knows.

And so I think this is a great opportunity yet then for all us in the room to go out and make sure I'm going to make sure my constituents know.

But I think that there is strength in numbers and I think that this is a great resource.

When people ask me, Well, what can I do?

Well, you can come to a hearing and you can testify or you can go back to your constituency and your community and you can nois this a broad.

But I think that we're only going to get bandwidth if we all put it out there.

So thank you very much.

I have a question for the panel, but mostly Senator Reynolds.

I am a housing paralegal and Legal Aid, and I take the public transit downtown and I give that context to say almost daily.

I see like the growing homelessness problem and hearing about your program, which I love.

I want to know what are some of the problems or hindrances that you've encountered to try to grow that program to scale?

Because obviously huge and the rent is too high, like the cost of living is outrageous.

So I can only see that problem getting bigger.

So what are some things we could do to try to, again, like expand that independent housing program?

So thank you for your question and thank you for what you're doing.

The biggest problem is NIMBY.

Quite simply, and we all know what that means.

No one wants to, you know, if they be honest, know that the individual right next door may have a sex offense.

No.

One, if we be honest.

And so it's very, very necessary.

Most people don't understand that the average offender does 3 to 5 years in prison and they come back to the same convicting county where they did their offense.

Why?

Because that's Ohio law.

They don't get to just come out of prison and move to Florida.

No, they come back to their community.

And because local jurisdiction and we're a state that respects home rule and we respect what local jurisdictions want to do.

And so cities have their own charters, and they then put in barriers that say from zoning standpoint, where you can be and what they are going to allow in their neighborhood and things like that.

And a lot of that comes from the sentiment of the people who live there.

So unfortunately, the communities, the urban communities that don't necessarily do that, it makes for more people to congregate and live in those communities, which is over represented and not fair, because you're not going to be able to live in a nice suburban communities.

They're never going to have that there.

So the consequences of us putting in restrictions like 500 feet from a school, which is a real thing they're trying to do now, and I'm working to pull that out of there and different things about, you know, where folks can live.

It actually has collateral consequences that are unintended because it makes people congregate in neighborhoods where now there's just an overabundance of individuals.

And so I'm so glad that I'm in the space that I can be in, so I can educate because a lot of times they're hearing from constituents, other legislators are hearing from constituents like, we don't want this here, and they're just acting on that, but they don't understand that even if you don't have a halfway house or a transitional housing program or whatever in your neighborhood, that doesn't mean that the individual that has the background is not allowed to live in your neighborhood.

They are they just don't have that layer of accountability and support that you're trying to exclude because you're you're putting the restrictions on that.

You're not putting the restrictions on them.

And people don't understand that.

So I am they're trying to make sure that they get it.

And I think on on our end, right as community organizations, it's our job to help debunk myths, to help educate, to help provide perspective on who your neighbors are.

Returning is the only word that doesn't apply to some people.

Citizen applies to all.

And so I think we have to help our neighbors understand that whether or not you want people living in your neighborhoods, we're going to your churches, we're shopping at the same stores.

We're living together anyway.

So how do we help provide a level of education and debunk some of those myths?

So that's a charge that I'll put to some of the community organizations in the room.

Good afternoon.

This is really a very important forum, and I'm glad you're here, Senator.

I appreciate the work that you're doing in reentry.

But we know that if schools are not properly funded, that the speeds up the school to prison pipeline and the Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that Ohio's school funding formula is unconstitutional.

They've ruled it that way four times.

And four years ago, we were fortunate to have the Bob Patterson School funding plan that made it possible for our schools to finally be funded constitutionally, generally speaking, the Senate right now is looking at not implementing the third phase of that plan, which would be devastating to our public schools.

So my question to you is, do you support implementing the third phase of the fair school funding plan?

So thank you for your question.

And it is a very real concern, right now of how our schools are being funded.

But also it is a real concern about, you know, just kind of the fever pitch that we're on as it relates to, you know, how do we make sure that we are giving our communities what they need?

And and we only have one budget.

There's only so much money.

And I don't really agree the way that schools are funded now.

And what I'm saying by that is that I don't like that we pit families against our senior community because we're using property taxes to fund schools.

Now that's the way that it was designed.

But what's happening now is because property taxes are just so high, you get seniors who have worked all their lives to afford their homes.

And now, even if they wanted to support their schools, they can't support a levy because they can't support a single tax dollar going up to support their schools.

And so now it's like, well, I educated my kids and I can't support our schools.

So I feel like we are we are just appalled.

We're just going like this.

I would really like to see us say instead of trying to fit a peg in a square, instead of trying to make this formula work at all costs of everything else, why don't we really get to the root of the problem and look at how are we funding our schools and how can we fully fund them?

Education is important.

Every child deserves a education that not only is free and fair, but every child deserves to live up to their fullest potential.

So we need to make sure that they are getting the outcomes that you know, that they're paying for.

And I'm not certain that we're able to do that.

And if money was the answer, then, you know, the school systems that get the most money would have the best outcomes, and that is not the case.

There are school systems that, especially in and I'll just use like Columbus Public Schools, for example, they get the most resources.

And I know that obviously there are social issues and things like that to have to be paid for, but it doesn't produce the best outcomes.

So that that tells me that we need to really look at we need to get to the root of the problem.

Yes, we have a formula that may have work then, but what's working now, especially with property taxes being this high, inflationary pressures being this high and all kind of mental health needs, social service needs, we need to now look and say, do we need to adjust the way that we are funding our schools and maybe property taxes isn't the right way to fund our schools.

Maybe it's some other sort of funding.

But all we know is we have an $11 billion budget and we need to make schools a priority.

And however we can get that done, we need to get that done.

And so I'm an advocate, just to answer your question.

I'm an advocate for looking to the solution to the real problem and how do we fix it instead of just saying we need to just fund that the the the Patterson Cup.

Now I feel like we need to have a better system, one that actually works for our families and our communities That's what I think run across.

We build in Freedom Ohio.

So my question is, what policies are we putting in place for criminal background checks?

Because a lot of individuals that we deal with, they fill out an application, but then they wait for the criminal history background to come back and then they're flagged on that.

And now when you do an identity history summary, now they can also go to the individual social media and then way I'm against that if they want harm.

So again, what policies do we have in place for criminal background checks?

I don't know.

Do you know anything?

Well, I guess that's me.

So policies, laws, things we can do.

That's basically where I come in.

Record sealing an expungement.

Getting.

Utilizing those tools.

Lot of people.

Look, let me be honest.

It's not going to solve everything.

There is a long list of excluded and eligible offenses.

No felony ones.

No felony can be sealed or expunged.

But there are other options in terms of, you know, whether that's applying for a pardon, whether that's applying to get a CQ and sorry, a certificate of qualification for employment.

And I think what's important with that particularly is with that certificate, it does a couple of things.

One, it removes mandatory barriers to certain licensing and things like that, and it makes the licensing agency or professional agency consider the person on an individual level rather than just by their background, by what's on their background.

And the other thing it does, and this is very much what employers like to hear, is that it limits liability employers, and that is huge.

And presenting that certificate basically in one way or another prevents the employer from being sued for negligent hiring if something happens.

And, you know, that's employers love liability.

They love that or they love not being liable.

So that's that's incredibly important.

But I think in terms of a criminal background check and what comes up on a criminal background check, there are things that there are tools and processes that we can use, like record sealing and expungement, like a pardon that can help either erase the record or steal it from relevant employers and other and other places that it might be popping up.

So I want to just piggyback on that because I think that's very important.

I think sometimes the sentiment is that employers or folks are being cruel because they're asking these questions and they're individuals.

I want you to understand the the bottom line issue of that is there are insurance companies that will raise their rates or drop a business because they actually have hired someone that has a criminal conviction that they are just not willing to cover.

And I, myself as a business owner, have had this problem many times because, like I said, it's a faith based nonprofit.

We serve, you know, formerly incarcerated individuals, but we also serve those that are some of the most perverse, which is sexual offenders.

And I have had insurance company drop us and drop us and drop us exclude us on certain things.

I mean, we're a small business compared to most, and we literally pay $30,000 a month in insurance.

Most businesses would never do that.

They just wouldn't do it.

And it's because of who we serve.

So, yes, I mean, I can understand if I were an employee coming into that situation or a job applicant saying, oh, you should just, you know, ban this and not ask or let it be sealed.

But at the end of the day, unless I, as a legislature legislator and other legislators look to fix that insurance piece, that's why you have employers saying, I'm sorry, I'd like to do it from a moral standpoint, but from a business standpoint, I can't because I'm going to lose my business if I do this.

And that's where that's really coming from.

So I want people to really understand that.

Good afternoon.

We have a text question.

Devin mentioned youth incarceration.

Can the panel please speak more to the specific situations of youth returning the community and the specific targeted supports they need that are different from returning adults?

Absolutely.

And I'll give a quick shout out to anyone in the room.

But there's an organization in the city called Project Lyft, and Project Lyft does an amazing job of supporting are youth and young adults that are returning.

The difference for a lot of those individuals is that not not only have they not even graduated high school, they've never had a job.

They've never all then ever had their own place to live.

And so it's one thing when you come home and you're trying to get a new house or get a new apartment, it's a completely different situation when you've never learned how to live on your own or take care of yourself.

So those are some barriers that, you know, the youth and young adults face when they're coming home.

So sometimes it's not about trying to get you into a career.

Sometimes it's about just trying to teach you what work is and what that means.

And financial literacy, how to make your money stretch when you get that check.

If you do, let's say we get somebody into the construction field and they become a pipefitter and all of a sudden they're they're making amazing money.

But you have to know how to manage money.

And so the goal really for a lot of our young adults is to make sure they just have the life skills Good afternoon.

Good afternoon.

A quick thank you to LMM and to the City Club for sponsoring today's forum along to the panel.

Organizationally, in Cuyahoga County, Reentry Services are doing quite well as evidenced by the fine organizations that we have represented in this room today.

But how can individual citizens get involved?

What can we do to step up and help the organizations that are currently working?

And one last observation statement I like to make that your statement.

I got a guy.

I want you to know that that philosophy, philosophy is trickling down within your organization.

I was talking with Mr. Jamal a few weeks ago and we ran into a difficult situation.

He said, Just a minute.

I got a guy as far as.

And thank you for that.

See, I appreciate you so much in all the work that you're doing.

As far as individual citizens and what you guys can do to help the work, I think Senator Reynolds said it.

Mentorship.

Volunteering.

Showing up.

Those are the things that we need from.

From everybody within the community, recognizing the fact that these are my neighbors.

So when we do a job fair or when we're doing an expungement clinic, it would be great to have professionals on site to help look at resumes.

You don't necessarily have to be a part of our organization to help somebody walk through what a good resume should look like or to work on their interview skills.

We would love to get people engaged and to get you involved.

If you are a business owner, you guys could communicate to us what you would like to see.

What does the perfect employee look like for the roles that you have available?

That level of feedback and communication helps us prepare individuals for the journey to careers in your industry or in any industry.

So for me, I think it's about being present and looking for opportunities to share your life experience and your knowledge.

That was Devin Hickman, along with Senator Reynolds, Kaylee Shoup and Pete Vander moderating.

Thank you all so much.

I'm Dan Waltrip.

I'm the chief executive here.

And I want to thank all of you for being a part of today's forum.

A very special thank you to Mr. Charles.

See, this form is presented in his honor, this forum on reentry.

It's presented in his honor with and in partnership with Luther Metropolitan Ministries.

Sir, thank you so much.

For those of you listening on the radio, that's the sound of a standing ovation.

We'd like to welcome guests at tables hosted by Lutheran Metropolitan Ministries Community West Foundation, Tracy, Cuyahoga County, Department of Health and Human Services, specifically the Office of Reentry, the Northeast Reintegration Center, Ohio Guide Stone Workforce 360.

The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland and Towards Employment.

Thank you all so much for being a part of our forum today.

Next Friday, we're or I'm sorry, next Friday, May 2nd at the City club, we're celebrating Law Day with our partners at the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association.

Will welcome Derrick Black.

He's a professor of law at the University of South Carolina and one of the nation's foremost experts in education, law and policy.

We hope you can join us for that.

Information about how to get a ticket is available at City Club dot org, where you can also explore the archives and check out future forums.

I want to thank you all for being a part of it.

That brings us to the end of today's forum.

And if you need a civic conversation, you should know that you've got a guy.

Have a great weekend.

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