Insights & Information

On July 26, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will hold a hearing in Washington D.C. on the racially discriminatory impact of criminal records in employment screening, and the use of criminal background checks. This forum is an important opportunity to educate the EEOC about the large number of ways in which criminal background checks impact people with criminal records and their families and communities, and serve as illegal barriers to employment. The EEOC has invited the public to submit comments by email (send to Commissionmeetingcomments@eeoc.gov). If you would like to send comments, do so before the July 26 hearing (though comments sent after that date may be considered). You can draft your own letter or use a customizable template put together by the Community Service Society.

On July 21, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to approve the Second Chance Reauthorization Act of 2011 (S. 1231), according to the Council of State Governments' Justice Center. Authored by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Rob Portman (R-OH), the Act provides resources to state and local governments, as well as community-based organizations, to improve the success rates for people released from prison and jail. The bill extends the original grant program authorized by the Second Chance Act for an additional five years while also improving and consolidating certain provisions. S. 1231 provides planning and implementation support for key reentry grantees; creates an incentive for federal inmates to participate in recidivism reduction programming; and repeals several programs that have not been funded or implemented. Committee approval is the first step in the legislative process. The Second Chance Reauthorization Act now moves to the full Senate for consideration. For more information, click here, here, and here.

Due to popular interest, the official state hearing on unemployment and job creation, hosted by State Representative LaShawn Ford, has been moved to the Thompson Center. For a flyer, click here.
 
July 26
10:30 a.m.
James R. Thompson Center
RSVP: workforce@lashawnford.com

In a six-year study of approximately 1 million Texas secondary school students, the CSG Justice Center found that about 15 percent had been suspended or expelled at least 11 times. An estimated half of this 15 percent were involved in the juvenile justice system. Only 3 percent of the expulsions and suspensions were for conduct that was state law mandated. The remaining 97 percent were mainly violations of schools' conduct codes, made at the discretion of school staff. African-American individuals and students with educational disabilities were disproportinately disciplined, according to the report. Only 40 percent of students who had been disciplined 11 times or more graduated from high school, while 31 percent of disciplined students repeated a grade at least once. Schools with similar characteristics showed wide variation in the frequency of student suspension and expulsion. To download the full report, click here.

More than 1 million emergency room visits involving prescription drugs were recorded in 2009 in the Chicago metropolitan area -- a 98 percent increase since 2004 -- according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority's (ICJIA) research brief provides a summary description of these substances, along with national and Illinois trends. It also summarizes public policy efforts that have been implemented to curb problem prescription use. To read the brief, click here.