Real-Time Takes
Real-Time Takes: Housing
Access to housing is a key factor to economic mobility. Without a place to live, the wellbeing and safety of thousands of Clevelanders is compromised. Towards Employment sat down with Austin Cummings, Senior Researcher at the Fair Housing Center for Rights & Research shed light on housing injustices within Cuyahoga County.
Read MoreReal-Time Takes: Collateral Sanctions and Banking- Gwen Awoyade
This is a story of Gwen, a courageous woman who overcame the stigma and barriers faced by every justice involved person. She applies her experience with restoring her own access to banking by helping Towards Employment participants rebuild their finances.
Read MoreReal-Time Takes: GROW Act – Collateral Sanctions: Record Sealing
For nearly a decade, Jane Doe made “bad decisions, with bad people, in bad places”. She was convicted with a total of three fifth (5th) degree felony charges for Drug Possession and one third (3rd) degree felony for Failure to Comply. Her offenses spanned three different counties: Cuyahoga (2015), Lake (2017) and Richland (2018). Jane Doe completed each of her sentences: nine months in prison and multiple years of community control sanction; along with a suspended driver’s license and the various fees and fines associated with her cases.
Read MoreReal-Time Takes: STARs – Success Stories Despite the Odds
Did you know that if you are at least 25, have a high-school diploma but not a four-year degree, and are currently active in the workforce, you are a STAR (Skilled Through Alternative Routes)?
Although over 50% of the workforce are STARs (more than 70 million people), the job market deliberately prioritizes and rewards those with degrees.1 Opportunity@Work, in partnership with the Ad Council, launched ‘Tear the Paper Ceiling’, a campaign dedicated to advancing opportunities for STARs. Their research finds that while 67% of job descriptions require a four-year degree, only 30% of positions truly need a degree.2 Despite the need for qualified workers, employers continue to prefer and demand candidates with four-year degrees over STARs with relevant experience and knowledge.
Read MoreReal-Time Takes: Expungements – Coming Soon!
Real-Time Takes A Policy Blogcast Expungements COMING SOON! On April 4, 2023, Ohio Senate Bill 288 went into effect which expands the eligibility for expunging or sealing criminal records and shortens waiting periods for filing a petition with the court. The following offenses cannot be expunged or sealed: 1st or 2nd degree felonies 3…
Read MoreReal-Time Takes: Second Sentence
A recent New York Times article delved into a devastating fact: over 60 percent of those leaving prison in the United States are unemployed a year later. While prejudice against returning citizens is hardly a thing of the past, recent polling suggests that the majority of Americans believe that people who have been convicted of crimes deserve a second chance.1
A major reason for the disconnect between the facts on the ground and public opinion is something that experts who work with reentering citizens call “collateral consequences.” These are the legally imposed barriers that those who have served their time face, hurdles that I have come to view as a second sentence.
Read MoreReal-Time Takes: Job Quality
When I ask my kids if they like their job, the first thing they mention is how much it pays – or does not pay. But whatever the pay scale and fringe benefits, the conversation soon turns to the quality of their job.
It turns out that most Americans agree that the quality of their job has a strong impact on their quality life.1
Covid put pressure on everybody at work and 40 percent of Americans working in 2020 experienced a decline in the quality of their jobs.2
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