Los Angeles Regional Reentry Partnership Newsletter             March 2013 
In This Issue

Upcoming Events

 

COMMUNITY TOWN HALL WITH PROBATION DEPARTMENT

 

On March 18th, LARRP is co-sponsoring a Community Town Hall with the Violence Prevention Coalition, to learn about the County Probation Dept.'s new structure and leadership. Assistant Chief Margarita Perez and Deputy Chief Reaver Bingham will discuss how this structure reflects their focus on connecting with community. Click here for more info.

 

The session will be held at The California Endowment, 1000 N. Alameda, Street, Los Angeles from 1 - 3 p.m. Space is limited. Please RSVP to

Daniel Healy [email protected]

 

 

 

ACLU HOSTS ANNUAL CONFERENCE & LOBBY DAY

 

Holiday Inn Sacramento Capitol Plaza

Saturday, April 6 - Monday, April 8

300 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95814

Bring your friends and colleagues to Sacramento for a weekend of learning, connecting, and making your voice heard. You'll meet experienced policy professionals and lobbyists who work on the issues you care about.

To help get you to Sacramento, the ACLU is pleased to offer a limited number of grants to offset travel costs and registration fees. The deadline to apply is March 8, 2013. Learn more about travel grants here.

 

LARRP Website & Committees
Visit our new website www.lareentry.org
for information about our bi-monthly membership meetings and our community and work group meetings.  Get involved!  Our housing, employment, and policy committees meet regularly to tackle topics important to all reentry providers, advocates, and other stakeholders.

DON'T MISS LARRP 'S MARCH MEMBERSHIP MEETING

 Featuring Co-Author of Prop. 36

and Co-Founder of Isidore Electronics Recycling

Bring Your Electronic Waste!

Plan to join LARRP network members on March 14th from 9 a.m. to 12 noon at The California Endowment, 1000 N. Alameda St. Los Angeles, CA 90012. We will hear from the co-author of Prop. 36, as well as the co- founder of Isidore Electronics Recycling. 

 

Co-Author of Proposition 36 to Address LARRP Membership Meeting

Michael Romano, co-founder of the Three Strikes Project, will discuss implementation of Prop. 36. While 1,100 petitions have been filed in Los Angeles County, to date only 5 people have been released. The slow judicial process along with funding and capacity to meet service needs are just some of the issues impacting full implementation. Romano is a Lecturer in Law and the Director of the Three Strikes Project. He has been recognized as one of the top lawyers in California. He maintains a small criminal appeals, post-conviction, and civil rights practice in San Francisco. Romano was a John Knight Fellow at Yale Law School and graduated with honors from Stanford Law School in 2003. He clerked for U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Richard C. Tallman.

 

Co-Founder of Isidore Electronics Recycling Ties Environmental Business to Reentry Hiring

Did you know that 2,000 pounds of electronic waste can pay for one new employee? Kabira Stokes, founder of Isidore Electronics Recycling, will describe how the firm's focus aligns business success, environmental impact, and employment of formerly incarcerated people. With electronic waste becoming the fastest growing waste stream in California, Isidore's mission is to make recycling electronics easy and accessible, while creating opportunities for the 120,000 people exiting California's correctional system.
Ms. Stokes will lead a discussion about ways to deepen partnerships with reentry service providers to provide jobs.
UPCOMING TRAINING & CAPACITY BUILDING OPPORTUNITIES

Three training opportunities are available in March and the workshops are filling fast. For questions about either workshop, please contact [email protected].

 

Preparing Disability Claims - March 11, 12, & 21

Preparing Disability Claims is a series of three classes that aid participants in understanding and assisting clients with the disability application process. It will be held on March 11, 12, and 21st. The first two workshops will be held at The California Endowment, 1000 N. Alameda Street. The third workshop will be conducted by the Social Security Administration in its downtown offices.

 

A $50 participant training fee covers materials and refreshments for the first two workshops. There is no charge for the third workshop, but participants must have attended the prior two sessions.

http://preparingsuccessfulclaimsmar2013.eventbrite.com

 

Facilitator & Instructor Training Workshop -

March 13 & 15

Do you ever wonder the difference between a "facilitator" and an "instructor"? This combined facilitator and instructor training program will allow participants to understand the clear distinction between the roles and the essential components for success in each one. There will be opportunities for hands-on design work, as well as practice sessions to demonstrate the lessons learned.

 

Facilitator & Instructor Training will be held on March 13th & 15th (Note that the dates are not sequential). This is training is $100 per participant to include materials, lunches, and refreshments. Contact [email protected] for more information or to register.

 

Responding to Requests for Proposals (RPFs) - April 9

Back by popular demand! This half-day workshop is designed to help non-profits successfully compete for public funding and focuses on RFPs issued by Los Angeles County and the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.  It is geared especially for small agencies that may not have submitted prior proposals or that may not have the services of an experienced grant writer. 

http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=98pvyaiab&oeidk=a07e746jx8xf018722d

 LARRP POLICY COMMITTEE APPROVES 2013 PRIORITIES

 

Annually, the LARRP Policy Committee reviews its guiding principles and develops priorities for the next 12 months. These guiding principles are:

  • Develop a Community Corrections System
  • Remove Barriers to Reentry
  • Reduce Incarceration and Disproportionate Minority Contact

 All proposed policy work and legislative positions will be assessed based on the following 2013 priorities:

  1. Advocate for maximum use of split sentencing.
  2. Advocate fir enhanced community representation on the Public Safety Realignment Team or in other meaningful ways in the County decision-making process.
  3. Advocate for implementation of "alternatives to incarceration" called for in the jail plan that would free 3,400 beds.
  4. Advocate for increased and diversified funding fir housing, employment, transportation, and, caser management.
  5. Advocate for state legislation that furthers LARRP's priorities.

See the LARRP website for Policy Committee information and meeting dates www.lareentry.org.

LA COUNTY PLANS TO FREE 3,400 JAIL BEDS FOR "ALTERNATIVES TO INCARCERATION"

Los Angeles County has been discussing alternatives to incarceration, with our voice heard loud and clear, for the 17 months that Realignment has been in effect. We have been heartened to find that the discussion has gone from a debate about whether to do it to a consensus that alternatives should be adopted. Most recently, a new plan has been floated to the Board of Supervisors that includes 3,400 alternative to incarceration beds. This is an important victory and we need to redouble our efforts to support the implementation of these alternatives.

 

The new beds will likely come up for consideration by the Board in the next month or two, so please be on the lookout for action alerts. We need your support in showing up at the Board of Supervisors and other relevant public meetings to tell our policy makers that we need services and treatment for our community members, not incarceration.

 

The programs under consideration include electronic monitoring/GPS/home detention, Probation Day Reporting Centers, work release and community service programs, treatment in substance abuse or mental health facilities, placement with community/faith based organizations that work with reentry populations, and expansion of the very limited pretrial release program underway now in the county.

CITY OF LOS ANGELES COMMUNITY CARE FACILITIES ORDINANCE

Although this proposed ordinance did not pass the City Council, it is not dead. The StopCCFO Coalition of more than 170 organizations is working to ensure that this measure is positioned as a nuisance issue in the future and no longer viewed as a housing issue.

 

More importantly, however, we have a chance to create a proactive agenda to work towards greater integration of vulnerable residents into our community, while at the same time creating a diverse range of affordable and supportive housing arrangements.

 

You can help create a "Yes in my Backyard" approach in Los Angeles instead of "Not in my Backyard." To this end join us in one of the following ways:

 

  1. Volunteer 3 to 5 hours a month on a Coalition Committee (contact [email protected])
  2. Host a community educational event such as an open house at your program, block clean-up or planting, presentation at a neighborhood council meeting on overcoming stigmas about persons with disabilities, etc. to help educate the general public about the value of our programs in helping people live independent lives without the need for institutionalization.
  3. Attend a candidate event and ask questions about his/her plan to create and sustain affordable housing for all.
  4. Endorse the California Homes and Jobs Act - SB 391 www.californiahomesandjobsact.org
  5. Share an organizational story on how you have won neighborhood support.
 LARRP SEEKS POLICY RESEARCH ASSOCIATE 
  

 

LARRP is seeking a very part-time research associate (4 - 5 hours per week) to support the Policy Committee and policy work of the organization. Contact [email protected] with questions and a resume.

Duties include conducting research on legislation and leading practices, drafting letters, scheduling meetings, tracking legislative priority list, drafting newsletter articles, and staffing Policy Committee by preparing meeting notices, agendas, meeting notes, and website updates.

Qualifications: Bachelor degree, preferably a graduate student with demonstrated research and writing skills.

POLICY ACTION ALERT! SUPPORT SB 283 
CalWORKS & CalFresh 
Please support Senate Bill 283 (Hancock), which will allow individuals, previously convicted of a drug felony, who meet all other eligibility rules to receive basic needs services, employment training and work supports through the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) and CalFresh programs, provided that they are complying with the conditions of probation or parole, or have successfully completed their probation or parole.  Click here for a sample letter of support

 

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Los Angeles Regional Reentry Partnership | [email protected] | http://www.lareentry.org
Mailing address: 2202 S. Figueroa #717, Los Angeles, CA 90007


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