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MASS IMPRISONMENT & REENTRY INITIATIVES: Reentry
Roundtable
CSS established The NY Reentry Roundtablto convene advocates
committed to successftransition of the formerly incarcerated
back
into family life and their communities.
Last Year 26,939 People Came Home
from Prison in New YorkWhat is the NY Reentry Roundtable?The NY
Reentry Roundtable brings together reentryadvocates to discuss
strategies to successfully transition theformerly incarcerated back
into family life and theircommunities. There are more than 58,000
inmates in NewYork State prisons. Once released, these individuals
returnin high concentration to a handful of
communities,particularly in the South Bronx, Central Brooklyn,
andHarlem neighborhoods.
The Community Service Society (CSS) formed theRoundtable in
2005, inviting the formerly incarcerated,direct service providers,
government agency representatives,and community activists to come
together each month toaddress the obstacles faced by those released
from prison.
Sharing Information, Building Alliances
The Reentry Roundtable represents over 50
stakeholderorganizations, providing a unique forum for
networking,information sharing, and building alliances.
The Roundtable focuses on systemic change at the New
York State level through a legislative agenda, whichadvocates
for critical reform in:
Education Employment Healthcare access Family connections Child
support Housing Voting rights
Roundtable Perspectives
Recent Roundtable guest speakers include:
Dr. Divine Pryor, Executive Director, Center forNuLeadership on
Urban Solutions at Medgar Evers Collegeof the City University of
New York
Tina Reynolds, Co-Founder and Chair, Women on the RiseTelling
HerStory (WORTH)
Charles J. Hynes, Kings County District Attorney
Winston C. Trumpet, Pastor of The Church With No WallsMinistry,
CEO of Strategic Business Associates LLC,President of the Hudson
County Entrepreneurs Club ofAmerica (for the formerly
incarcerated)
Darryl King, former Legislative Aide to NYS SenatorsJoseph
Galiber and Velmanette Montgomery
Wanda Moore, Director of Reentry, New Jersey Office ofthe
Attorney General
Edgar Kahn, Founder and Chairman, Time Banks USA
Robert Genn, retired Workforce Specialist, NYSDepartment of
Labor
Martin F. Horn, Commissioner, NYS Departments ofCorrection and
Probation
The Roundtable is an invaluable space for
the NYS reentry communities to exchange
ideas and take action.Glenn Martin, VP of Policy and Advocacy,
The FortuneSociety
Key Contact
Gabriel Torres-Rivera, Director, Reentry
[email protected]
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MASS IMPRISONMENT & REENTRY INITIATIVES: Albany Advocacy
Day-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CSS established The NY Reentry Roundtableto convene advocates
committed to successfultransition of the formerly incarcerated
backinto family life and their communities.
About Albany Advocacy Day
As an outgrowth of the New York Reentry Roundtable,CSS
established Albany Advocacy Day in 2007 to enablecommunity-based
stakeholders to meet with key legislatorsin Albany, New York, to
advocate on behalf of theformerly incarcerated as well as for those
who areincarcerated.
More than 100 participants attended each of the 2007,2008 and
2009 Albany Advocacy Days. The RoundtableAgenda was presented to
key legislators as a tool to helpthem advocate for critical reentry
issues.
On the Agenda in 2010:Removing Barriers, Rebuilding Lives
The Albany Advocacy Day Agenda for May 4, 2010includes 13 bills
to amend laws that currently createunnecessary barriers for the
formerly incarcerated.Important topics covered by these bills
include:
Extending the right to vote to individuals onparole.
Allowing judges to use discretion in setting ormodifying child
support obligations of incarceratednon-custodial parents.
Granting merit time releaseeligibility to survivorsof domestic
violence whose convictions wererelated to their experiences of
domestic violence.
Ending prison gerrymandering to stop censuspolicy of counting
prisoners where they areincarcerated
Sealing non-violent, non-sexual misdemeanorconviction records
after 5 years (assuming no newconvictions)
Limiting time that individuals are listed on theNYS Department
of Correction Inmate Lookupso as to limit improper use of this
website to thedetriment of people with conviction histories
Allowing people who face criminal-records basedjob
discrimination by government agencies to bringclaims before the New
York State Division of
Human Rights or the New York City HumanRights Commission (people
who face employmentdiscrimination by private companies already
havethis right)
Granting foster care agencies discretion to delayfiling
termination of parental rights papers when aparent is incarcerated
or in a residential drugtreatment program in order to help families
worktoward unification
Creating a commission to study post-secondaryeducation in
prison, including restoration of TAP
grant eligibility and expanding access to programs
Prohibiting employers from making any inquiryabout an applicants
conviction history until aconditional job offer is made
Standardizing references to Certificates of Relieffrom
Disabilities and Certificates of Good Conductin all occupational
licensing laws, so that eithercertificate acts to lift automatic
bars to licensure
Cleaning up rap sheets used for non-criminaljustice purposes by
prohibiting NYS DCJS from
including entries about arrests/cases with noactivity for three
or more years
We also support initiatives to revise criteria andguidance to
the Parole Board to give clearer focus tofostering reentry and
reintegration rather than tocontinuing punishment.
Setting the Agenda for Change
