Breaking Down Barriers: Some Background

 

At least 1 in 6 Ohioans — 1.92 million people — have a misdemeanor or felony conviction; this is inevitably a large portion of our potential workforce. Ohio Justice & Policy Center (OJPC)’s CIVICC database has identified over 750 (and counting) state laws and regulations that place barriers on people with criminal records. These restrictions are concentrated in many of the high-growth fields, like healthcare, for which people enroll in community colleges to be trained. For years, 2nd Chance Community Legal Clinic clients would often be faced with the realization that they were completely locked out of fields of employment due to state laws that create “disqualifying offenses” that bar employment in fields that require licensure or are located in facilities that serve “vulnerable populations.”

 

However in 2012, the passage of the landmark Collateral Sanctions Bill, SB337, created Certificates of Qualifications for Employment (CQE’s) that, for the first time, lift a mandatory, employment-based criminal record barrier. The CQE’s, which OJCP helped design and get passed, create new possibilities for students with criminal records, who previously would have been completely locked out of certain regulated fields of employment, especially high-growth fields like health care.

 

The 2nd Chance Communtiy Legal Clinic at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College

 

In July of 2012, the Ohio Justice and Policy Center (OJPC) partnered with the Black Male Initiave (BMI) at Cincinnati State to create a first of its kind on-campus legal clinic to help students with criminal records overcome legal barriers to completing their education and finding employment in their chosen fields of employment. The clinic was created with a simple idea in mind: That students with criminal records are entirely hirable if the appropriate supports are in place at the right times. However, students with criminal records face often insurmountable barriers to employment when criminal record barriers have not been addressed in an intentional, timely and thorough way.

 

The monthly clinic has assisted over 20 students a month with criminal record sealing, Certificates of Qualification for Employment (CQE’s), executive clemency (pardons) and addressing child support issues that can derail a student’s education and employment prospects.