The Maryland Second Chance Act

The DC government has been implementing Rapid Re-Housing programs in response to the homelessness crisis that the nation’s capital has been facing for years. The Rapid Re-Housing models were implemented across the country through the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Rehousing Program (HPRP), as part of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) of 2009 (Anderson, 2015). Rapid Re-Housing is mainly an intervention, informed by a Housing First approach. Housing First is a critical part of the community’s effective homeless crisis response system (Anderson, 2015). The program attempts to connect families and individuals experiencing homelessness to permanent housing through personalized programs of assistance that may include the use of limited-time

31,928 incarcerated in Maryland prisons and jails (The Sentencing Project, n.d.). More than 2.3 million people incarcerated nationwide (Peter Wagner, Bernadette Rabuy, 2017). The United States makes up about 5% of the world’s population but has 21% of the world’s prisoners (NAACP, n.d.) – quite astonishing statistics considering that forty years ago, there were only about 350,000 people in prison (Alexander, Michelle, 2014). This phenomenon is called mass incarceration. Mass incarceration is an ongoing issue created by the War on Drugs, crime, and institutionalized racism.

Overview and History of Area: The "Prison District" of Baltimore, Maryland, is located primarily in an unincorporated community called Townson. With a population of just under 60,000 it is the second most densely populated unincorporated county seat in the United States. The community is located just north of Baltimore City, inside the I-695 and I-83 beltway and has several major neighborhood areas. In the larger area of Townson, the per capita income is about $32,000, but almost 10% of the population is below the poverty line (2010 Cenus U.S. Gazetter, 2011). Moving into the neighborhood in question, however, the overall population density increases as well as the poverty level of those who actually live in the area.

In vulnerable communities like the South Bronx, where economic opportunities are limited, populations are at high risk for various adverse outcomes that are impediments to community growth and well-being. Two statistics from the 2015 Community Health Profiles for the Mott Haven & Melrose neighborhoods in the South Bronx are particularly revealing when compared to the fifty-eight other New York City (NYC) communities that were assessed: 1) Mott Haven & Melrose ranks fourth for incarcerations. Its 305 incarcerations per 100,000 adults is nearly twice the Bronx rate and three times the NYC rate, and 2) Mott Haven & Melrose ranks seventh for elementary school absenteeism. Its 31 percent absenteeism rate is over 1.5 times that of the NYC rate (NYC DOHMH, 2015). Given that 59 percent of incarcerated individuals in New York State are parents of children under the age of 18, it is clear that the imprisonment of these criminal offenders does not happen in a vacuum (NYS DOCCS, 2013).

Felons are people who have been convicted of a felony. Felony is a crime, typically one involving violence, regarded as more serious than a misdemeanor, and usually punishable by imprisonment for more than one year or by death. In Maine and Vermont, felons never lose their right to vote, even while they are incarcerated. Vermont’s 1793 Constitution stipulates that residents can lose their right to vote only if convicted of voter fraud. In Florida, Lowa and Virginia, felons and ex-felons permanently lose their right to vote. Eleven states restrict voting even after a person has completed their prison sentence and finished probation or parole. Twenty states require completion of parole and probation before voting is allowed, and fourteen states allow felons to vote after they leave prison. In 1789, Kentucky became the first U.S. state to ban convicted criminals from voting. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said that felon disenfranchisement is a violation of the Voting Rights Act in her May 4, 2006 dissenting opinion in Hayden v. Pataki. Ex-felons should be able to vote because they served their punishment and now they are out so they probably did not do anything serious like first-degree felony: murder, rape, kidnapping, arson, fraud. Second-degree felony: aggravated assault, felony assault, arson, manslaughter, possession of a controlled substance, child molestation.

In 1993, Washington was the first state to pass the three strikes laws; however, it later became known as the Persistent Offender Accountability Act. According to this act, courts are required to sentence “persistent offenders” to a term of life in prison

Around two-thirds of Americans with low-income qualify for government assistance, yet they aren’t getting it. Instead, they must wait in lists ranging from 3 to 5 years long in order to receive help. This article, written by Andrew Flowers, delves into the housing assistance crisis and the two problems that cause this: affordability as well as the lack of funding and ineffectiveness of government programs.

I have seen many changes growing up in Prince Georges County (PG), a minority-dominated county in Maryland. The government has spent a massive amount of money to revitalize the county. This includes the $250.5 million transformation of Jack Kent Cooke Stadium (now FedEx Field) and the massive $2 billion National Harbor project in Oxon Hill, MD[i]. There are rumors the county plans to rename the crime-infested city of Landover, where I currently live, to Hyattsville, a neighboring city, predicting that this will ease the bad repetition of this area. However, these renovations and changes are only temporary solutions since they are only masking the problems that put my home county deeper in

When facing discrimination in housing, jobs and overall welfare, there are little opportunities given to people recently released from prison. This causes them to go back to the life of crime, and ultimately back in prison. This features as an effect of mass incarceration and works to fuel it. According to the Bureau of Justice statistics, “ 2 out of every 3 prisoners released will be rearrested within 3 years and nearly half of those released from prison will be incarcerated again within 3 years”(Dennis Madden 14). This effect of mass incarceration limits ex-cons from reaching any pursuits and keeps them trapped in a system that continues to disadvantage them. Craig Nissan elaborates on the severity of this issue, saying, “[Ex-convicts] are labelled for life as felons, who will face forever discrimination in seeking essentials like employment and housing, basic to building a good life. Moreover, many face a life of monitoring as ex-cons and the loss of many civil rights, including the right to vote”(205). These people turn into victims of our society and lack any chances to reach

Individuals returning from incarceration each year live in virtually every zip code in the country. Most ex-offenders have every intention of becoming productive, tax paying citizens, and no intention of returning to the penal system. However ex-offenders are largely on their own when returning to our communities. They are often estranged from families and friends, and are increasingly faced with tremendous challenges upon their release. Most are simply unprepared for the challenges they will encounter in the attempt to restore normalcy to their lives – finding a

Between 1980 and 2014 the number of incarcerated people in the United States quadrupled from 500,000 to approximately 2.3 million. At any given time, the United state incarcerates one percent of its population while another two percent are under extended supervision (Wakefield and Uggen 2010). In addition, the United States has faced a dramatic increase in its homeless and housing insecure population since the 1980s (Herbert, Morenoff, and Harding 2015). Reasons include a decline in affordable housing, foreclosure, poverty, eroding work opportunities, and also laws restricting certain populations from housing. This paper will address past and current challenges related to reentry, recidivism, and housing by analyzing relevant empirical research.

The government is the best audience for the modification of the housing first program because it has the power and resources to make changes for the good of the citizen by the use of the law that is set to protect people’s rights and freedoms. It is an individual’s right to have access to a safe, secure home and habitable home.

Both sides of the argument on this topic of a felon’s right to vote propose strong arguments for what they believe. The strict laws that cause difficulty for felons to vote were created by reason of committing a felony is the highest act of crime. On the other hand, other felonies that are believed to be slight may lead up to only one year in

Toward the end of the 2015 meeting of the Indiana General Assembly (“Session”), it became evident that a few advocacy organizations were seemingly misinformed and disconnected from IHCDA policy positions. Rather than addressing these issues individually, IHCDA seized the opportunity to develop a much broader working group of advocates and experts that are connected to housing and community development in Indiana. After receiving strong support and encouragement from several organizations, IHCDA formally organized the oracle of advocates and industry experts dubbing it the Indiana Housing and Community Development Coalition (‘Coalition”).

Economic discrimination looks at the difficulties inherent in a released offender’s job and housing search (for those not living with family in an established home) and how discrimination by possible employers and landlords can push released offenders towards crime again. Social separation & restriction looks at how the acceptance or rejection by social groups related to released offenders (both group affiliations prior to incarceration and the groups they need to attach to upon release) can make or break their attempts at reintegration. Lastly, failing re-entry programs deals with the government and community-run programs that would help prepare released offenders with reinserting themselves into society. It also looks at how the focus of these programs can decide their efficiency in reducing recidivism rates.