The "Unlocking Opportunity for People with Records and Their Families" conference was held in Washington, DC on October 23-24, 2017. Links to conference videos and resources are below. 

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HANDOUTS & RESOURCES

Conference Agenda (Days 1 and 2)

Toolkit: Clean Slate Advocacy, CLS and CAP

Toolkit: Fair Chance Licensing Reform, NELP

"News You Can Use: Research Roundup for Reentry Advocates," CAP, NELP, CLS (Oct. 2017)

AFSCME Fact Sheet on Child Care Regulations and Background Checks

TalkPoverty one-pager, www.TalkPoverty.org 

From breakout session, “Expungement ‘Aftercare’: What Comes Next Once the Record Is Cleared?” 

• "Ants Under the Refrigerator? Removing Expunged Cases from Commercial Background Checks," Sharon M. Dietrich, from Criminal Justice (Winter 1996) 
• "Agreement Concerning Bulk Distribution of Electronic Case Record Information on Recurring Basis," Administrative Office of PA Courts

From breakout session, “The Great Equalizer: Clearing the Way to Education and Training”

• "Renewing Communities: California Pathways from Prison to Postsecondary Education," Opportunity Insitute and Stanford Criminal Justice Center
• Corrections to College California one-pager, www.CorrectionsToCollegeCA.org 

From breakout session, “Engaging Key Stakeholders to Reform Background Check Licensing Barriers”

• "Final Report of Maryland Collateral Consequences Workgroup," The Honorable Alexander Williams, Jr., Chair (Dec. 2016)

VIDEO GUIDE

How States Are Leading the Way on Removing Barriers for People with Records (1st VIDEO: 8:00 to 45:00) - Gov. Dannel Malloy (D-CT) - Winnie Stachelberg, Center for American Progress  

Bringing About Reform from Inside the Corrections System (1st VIDEO: 46:00 to 1:11:00) - Heidi Washington, Michigan Department of Corrections - Ed Chung, Center for American Progress

Envisioning the Future of the Reform Agenda (1st VIDEO: 1:13:00 to 2:06:00) - Roy Austin, formerly with White House Domestic Policy Council - Bill Cobb, American Civil Liberties Union - Holly Harris, Justice Action Network - Maurice Emsellem, National Employment Law Project - Rebecca Vallas, Center for American Progress - Jasmine Heiss, Coalition for Public Safety  

Changing the Narrative: People with Records in the Media (1st VIDEO: 2:16:00 to 3:05:00) - Lottie Joiner, USA Today contributor - Glenn Martin, JustLeadershipUSA - Lauren Weiner, Precision Strategies - Christine Owens, National Employment Law Project  

Clean Slate: From the Pennsylvania State House to the Halls of Congress (1st VIDEO: 3:27:00 to 4:13:00) - Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) - Pennsylvania State Rep. Jordan Harris (D) - Pennsylvania State Rep. Sheryl Delozier (R) - Rebecca Vallas, Center for American Progress  

News You Can Use: Research Roundup for Advocates (1st VIDEO: 4:19:00 to end; or watch session here) - Alan Barber, Center for Economic Policy Research - Christian Henrichson, Vera Institute - Michael Mitchell, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities - Rachel West, Center for American Progress - Jared Bernstein, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities  

Lived Experiences Defining the Advocacy Agenda (2nd VIDEO: 0:00 to 57:00) - Teresa Hodge, Mission: Launch, Inc. - Tarra Simmons, Public Defender Association - Megan French-Marcelin, JustLeadershipUSA 

Teresa Hodge on solving joblessness for people with records

Tarra Simmons describes her journey as a ban-the-box legal advocate after release.

Teresa Hodge on storytelling to defeat "otherness" of incarceration

Tarra Simmons on directly involving people with records in advocacy work.  

Teresa Hodge: What does justice feel like?  

Tarra Simmons on how to be attentive to needs of formerly incarcerated people  

Teresa Hodge: Are people with records real stakeholders in your work?  

Tarra Simmons on criminal justice reform through an intersectional lens  

Megan French-Marcelin: involving formerly incarcerated leadership  

NELP's latest toolkit provides advocates and policymakers the resources they need to win fair chance licensing reforms in their state:

• Top 10 state reforms to pursue;
• Survey of recent reform efforts;
• Key messages, statistics and quotes;  
• Fact sheet and sample op-ed;
• Model legislation; and 
• State-level data.

We all have a stake in this vital work, and it's time to act. 

Thanks to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for its generous support for this work.