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Collateral Consequences of Criminal Convictions

Collateral consequences refer to the formal legal disabilities, bars, and barriers imposed by law as a result of a criminal legal record, including an arrest and/or conviction record. It also refers to the stigma justice system-impacted individuals face in life as a result of having a criminal legal history. The Reentry Working Group advocates for Congress and federal agencies to eliminate, reduce, and/or remediate existing collateral consequences as well as prevent the implementation of new ones in the areas of education, nutrition assistance, voting rights, health care, financial and business issues, housing, and more.

This long term advocacy has paid off. The Reentry Working Group successfully advocated to remove the more than 25 year old ban on Pell grants for incarcerated students. It also has prevented the codification of additional collateral consequences for individuals with specific convictions in the areas of food and nutrition programs, educational loan programs, and other important resources for successful long-term reentry. However, many collateral consequences persist at the local, state and federal level. 

For example, according to the Collateral Consequences Resource Center (CCRC), federal law sanctions discrimination on the basis of criminal conviction in several employment sectors. While the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission has interpreted Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to bar employers from discriminating against individuals based on their conviction history, federal law continues to disqualify individuals with certain convictions from employment within the banking and transportation industries, as well as in a wide variety of state-licensed jobs in healthcare and education. 

Examples of existing federal collateral consequences of conviction that the Reentry Working Group has worked to remove include:

For example, according to the Collateral Consequences Resource Center (CCRC), federal law sanctions discrimination on the basis of criminal conviction in several employment sectors. While the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission has interpreted Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to bar employers from discriminating against individuals based on their conviction history, federal law continues to disqualify individuals with certain convictions from employment within the banking and transportation industries, as well as in a wide variety of state-licensed jobs in healthcare and education.

Examples of existing federal collateral consequences of conviction that the Reentry Working Group has worked to remove include:

Access to Capital and Small Business Supports

The Reentry Working Group has worked to repeal Small Business Administration (SBA) rules and regulations that prevent entrepreneurs and business owners with criminal legal histories from accessing federal SBA loan programs. To advance this work, the Reentry Working Group has:

Food Security

The federal ban on access to SNAP (formerly known as the food stamp program) and TANF (an income support program, sometimes referred to as welfare) for individuals with a drug felony conviction. The Reentry Working Group has successfully stopped the attempted expansion of this ban and continues to advocate for: 

  • Full repeal of the ban on SNAP and TANF benefits for individuals with a drug felony conviction; and
  • Passage of the Re-Entry Support Through Opportunities for Resources and Essentials (RESTORE) Act, which would repeal the federal lifetime ban on individuals convicted of a drug felony from accessing SNAP and codify the USDA waiver that permits individuals to reinstate SNAP assistance up to 30 days prior to release from incarceration

Housing

The Reentry Working Group partners with housing advocates and experts to push for fair and ready access to housing for people with criminal legal histories. Recent housing issues it has addressed with partners include:

  • The federal restriction on hiring people with conviction histories as Fair Housing testers: The Reentry Working Group has worked closely with the Partnership for Just Housing to remove conviction restrictions for fair housing testers in programs funded by the Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) and Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP). To advance this work, the Reentry Working Group has:

      • Submitted a comment in response to a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) issued by HUD
      • Worked alongside the Partnership for Just Housing to conduct a series of listening sessions with HUD staff to identify and make suggestions to remove unnecessary barriers that keep formerly incarcerated and convicted people out of HUD-assisted housing, enabled via HUD rules and regulations which grant broad discretion to owners and operators of HUD-assisted housing in screening out potential tenants with conviction histories

  • Changes to existing HUD guidance on screening and termination of assistance: The Reentry Working Group and Partnership for Just Housing plans to respond to this recent NPRM proposing changes to existing HUD guidance on screening and termination of assistance.

Resources

The Collateral Consequences Resource Center (CCRC) has compiled and published jurisdictional profiles that examine each state’s formal consequences of criminal convictions. To review CCRC’s Restoration of Rights Project, please visit their website or navigate directly to the state-by-state analyses.

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