Technology Implementation - Offender Reentry

Erica Crew and Jacqueline Altamirano Marin held regular meetings with the site leads and partners at BHA to discuss progress of the initiative. The meetings took place on September 10, September 24, October 8, October 22, November 5, and November 19 of 2020.

Erica Crew and Jacqueline Altamirano Marin held regular meetings with the site leads and partners at BHA to discuss progress of the initiative. The meetings took place on August 6, August 20, September 3, September 17, October 8, October 22, November 12, and December 3 of 2020.

Erica Crew and Jacqueline Altamirano Marin held regular meetings with the site leads and partners at BHA to discuss progress of the initiative. The meetings took place on August 4, September 1, October 2, October 6, October 13, November 23, December 7, December 21 of 2020.

Erica Crew and Jacqueline Altamirano Marin held regular meetings with the site leads and partners at BHA to discuss progress of the initiative. The meeting took place on August 18, September 1, September 9, September 17, September 29, October 29, November 10, and December 7 of 2020.

On December 9, 2020 Vera connected with the Bristol Redevelopment & Housing Authority (BRHA). BRHA shared the obstacles that they are experiencing in providing housing for the reentry population in Bristol, Virginia. Vera walked them through the various methods that exist to broaden access and provided examples of housing authorities that have received technical assistance to amend their ACOP/Admin plan, develop individualized screening criteria, and create a family reentry program.

On June 12, 2020 Erica Crew, Margaret diZerega, and Jaqueline Altamirano Marin presented at NAHRO's Housing Committee meeting to review the goals of Opening Doors, success, best practices, and ways to engage in work that expands access to housing for the reentry population.

Jacqueline Altamirano Marin and Erica Crew conducted regular meetings with an essential partner of ACHA's-- the Department of Human Services (DHS). This involved gathering information on the reentry landscape of the county and potential partnerships. For example, on October 23, 2020 Vera participated in a stakeholder interview with another local housing provider: Action Housing. Ahead of the ACHA stakeholder meeting, the team conducted an interview with a representative from Neighborhood Legal Services on November 18, 2020.

On October 13, 2020 Jacqueline Altamirano Marin and Erica Crew facilitated and organized a meeting alongside the Burlington Housing Authority to solicit feedback from community stakeholders on BHA's proposed policy changes. Reentry stakeholders from the area attended and provided feedback on the details of the policy and process that BHA is working towards.

On November 19, 2020 Jacqueline Altamirano Marin presented Vera's policy recommendations to the Winnebago County Housing Authority board. The changes to their eligibility rules are to expand access for people in reentry and the board was receptive to the recommendations and the support of WCHA executive staff. Vera provided real-time answers to logistic concerns and followed up further with research to assist in their decision making and understanding of the issue.

On December 10, Vera and the Detroit Housing Commission (DHC) presented on the Opening Doors Initiative at the Returning Citizens Task Force December meeting. The taskforce is hosted by Detroit councilmember at large Janee Ayers. The meeting had over 50 participants in attendance through Zoom and Facebook live. Participants discussed the importance of reentry housing solutions, learned about the Opening Doors initiative, and asked questions about DHC's admissions policies for people with conviction histories.