Reentry Central was part of the media corps assembled at New Haven’s City Hall on January 13 to listen to Mayor John DeStefano speak about his proposed ordinance that would aid those convicted of a crime become productive, tax-paying citizens, and entrepreneurs in a legal business.
Like most cities, New Haven has street vendors who ply their wares to customers looking for a quick bite to eat, or inexpensively priced items such as perfumed oils and leather goods. Vendors must have a vendor’s license issued by the city to peddle their merchandise, and are subject to a criminal background check. Those with a conviction are almost always denied a license or permit. DeStefano is seeking to change this.
According to Amy Meek, the coordinator of the New Haven Reentry Initiative, one in seven applicants for a vending permit has been denied due to a criminal record. Under the “Collateral Consequences Ordinance” there would no longer be a blanket denial of vending licenses to those with a criminal conviction, but rather, the New Haven Police Department would assess each applicant’s request individually and make a decision based on the applicant’s crime and rehabilitation. Also at the press conference was Assistant Police Chief Patrick Redding, who supported the Mayor’s commitment to helping those released from prison to become gainfully employed in a legal entrepreneurship endeavor.
New Haven has been at the forefront of promoting successful reentry. In addition to being the only city in the state of Connecticut to have a municipal reentry initiative, it also passed the “Ban the Box” ordinance which removed, on all job applications provided by employers who do business with the city, the section asking if a person had ever been convicted of a crime. The “Collateral Consequences Ordinance,” which will be introduced to the New Haven Board of Aldermen on January 17, will also “increase transparency” by requiring the city to publish a list of collateral consequences of a criminal conviction, according to Meek. After a public hearing, the Board of Aldermen will vote on the proposed ordinance, which is expected to be passed.
Reentry Central has compiled a repository of reports on reentry which can be found in our website’s Library. Two of these reports provide evidence backing the DeStefano push for changing the city’s licensing ordinance with the goal of creating jobs, reducing recidivism, and increasing public safety: Collateral Costs: Incarceration's Effect on Economic Mobility, from the Pew Economic Policy Group and the Pew Center on the States, and Entrepreneurship and Prisoner Reentry: The Development of a Concept, by Matthew C. Sonfield, an intriguing look at entrepreneurial training for inmates and newly released prisoners.
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