Home is the cornerstone from which people build better lives for themselves and their families. People with criminal records, like everyone else, deserve a place to call home.
Please join the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law for a conversation on the importance of ensuring access to affordable housing for individuals with criminal records. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has issued game-changing guidancethat clarifies that criminal records screening of tenants may violate the civil rights of racial minorities who are disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system.
HUD’s new guidance has set the stage for continued advocacy and litigation to pursue implementation of just housing policies and practices for individuals with criminal records in both federally subsidized housing and the private market. However, recent changes in the political landscape may affect advocacy strategies moving forward. Please join us to learn more about this important issue and the road forward.
Panelists will include:
· Daryl Atkinson, a renowned advocate for the safe and successful reintegration of individuals returning home from incarceration and a founding member of the North Carolina Second Chance Alliance
· Kate Walz, Director of Housing Justice and Director of Litigation at the Shriver Center
· Marie Claire Tran-Leung, a Staff Attorney at Shriver Center and author of When Discretion Means Denial: A National Perspective on Criminal Records Barriers to Federally Subsidized Housing.
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
6:00 – 7:30 pm
Ogilvy Public Relations
1111 19th Street NW, 3rd Floor
Washington, DC 20036