New Haven Housing Authority proposal aims to help ex-offenders

2-18-2015 Connecticut:

NEW HAVEN >> The city’s Housing Authority already offers affordable living accommodations to 14 individuals who are re-entering society after having served time in prison.

But the city’s legislative delegation is hoping to broaden the level of help New Haven offers to those who are seeking a second chance after prison. Lawmakers have proposed Senate Bill 173, a pilot program in which four former prisoners would qualify for the following benefits:

• Tuition to cover the costs of getting a bachelor’s degree from a school in the state university system.

• A cost of living stipend to cover expenses such as food, transportation and clothing.

• Space in one of the Housing Authority’s units for four years.

The legislation has the support of the Housing Authority’s leadership, but authority Executive Director Karen DuBois-Walton said a state appropriation would be required to cover the bulk of the costs associated with the program.

“We’re hoping for a special appropriation,” DuBois-Walton said Tuesday after a meeting of the Housing Authority’s commissioners.

She told the commissioners that individuals selected to participate must have taken a year or more of college courses while in prison and have excelled academically. Additionally, those selected for the pilot program would need to have had some previous tie to the city before having gone to prison, DuBois-Walton said.

“They would be selected by a committee that would representatives of the Department of Correction, higher education officials and representatives of the public housing community,” she said. Those selected for the pilot program would have to maintain a 3.0 grade point average,

The Housing Authority started offering space to those returning from prison about three years ago, DuBois-Walton said.

“The success of individuals returning to the community is very much tied to stable housing,” she said. “And the response of those living in our communities has been, ‘This is something that you should have done a long time ago.’”

The Housing Authority does not accept individuals who are convicted arsonists or sex offenders into its community re-entry program.

Erik Clemons, the chairman of the Housing Authority board, said Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s speech at Yale University earlier this month about creating a “second chance society” in Connecticut with criminal justice system reforms, indicates there’s support among state political leaders for the kind of opportunity the pilot program would offer.

“Given what Governor Malloy has set out, I think there is some staying power to this,” Clemons said following Tuesday’s meeting. ..Source.. by Luther Turmelle