One man’s story of discrimination as he reentered community after serving his time.
A report from the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts shows that older adults with a criminal record are at low risk for committing a crime, yet at high risk for homelessness and housing instability. Hear what Arthur Claude McIvory and hundreds of others face when navigating an overly complex process to find a home.
What can you do?
Share this story and actions with your age- and dementia-friendly partners. Is this an issue facing your community? How can you support this work?
Contact the Criminal Justice Reform Caucus and your state legislators to support housing justice.
- Join the Clean Slate Massachusetts coalition by clicking here.
- Contact your state legislators and ask them to support these bills to advance housing justice.
- An Act Providing for Easier and Greater Access to Record Sealing (H.1598/S.979)
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- Would require the Commissioner of Probation to automatically seal criminal and juvenile records (CORIs) after the applicable waiting periods, without having to file a petition.
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- An Act to Remove Collateral Consequences and Protect the Presumption of Innocence (H.1493/s.998)
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- Would immediately seal of CORIs at the time of the final disposition if the charged did not end in a conviction and if the defendant does not object to it being sealed.
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Resources
Clean Slate Fact Sheet
Clean Slate Massachusetts
Justice 4 Housing
New England Law’s CORI Initiative
Health Impact Assessment, Infographic summary(includes recommendations for local programs)
Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts’ Legislative Agenda
Updates on Second Chance/Clean Slate Bill
Healthy Aging with a Criminal Record in Hampden County, MA
Thank you to the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts, Samantha Hamilton, Arthur Claude McIvory.
This story was produced with support from Point32Health Foundation.
PHIWM’s health impact assessment and advocacy work on clean slate legislation has been made possible thanks to the Massachusetts Community Health & Health Aging Fund and the Point32Health Foundation