CHPC was pleased to have Executive Director Jerilyn Perine take part in a conference at CUNYs John Jay College of Criminal Justice on October 27, 2016. The event, titled Excluded: A Dialogue on Safe, Supportive, and Affordable Housing for People with Justice System Involvement, followed a structure from the needs this population to the problems they face upon reentry to tangible policy solutions.
As the events organizers wrote in their introductory notes, Everyone deserves a safe, stable place to live that supports access to opportunity. For people with justice system involvement, the doors to housing are often closed at every turn. Discrimination, scarcity, affordability, and policy limitations put stable housing out of reach for many people with criminal records. It was this framing that provided the outlook for the days discussions.
Ms. Perine took part in the days opening panel, which laid out the values that lay behind the importance of housing. The panel, which was moderated by John Jay president Jeremy Travis, included the New York Womens Foundations Ana Oliveira and NYU Law professor Anthony Thompson. Her contributions to the discussion, particularly on how our political system reflects or fails to reflect our values, were well received and stimulated healthy discussion throughout the day.
Subsequent panels focused on case studies of individuals who face the very steep and immediate barriers to housing (and other necessities like government identification and a job) that greet them upon release from incarceration.
Thanks to the John Jay Prisoner Reentry Institute for organizing and to the university for hosting!