Change criminal re-entry rules
by Molly Hilligoss
Molly Hilligoss.
Covid-19 changed nothing for people with criminal backgrounds searching for affordable housing in Wicomico County.
They were already facing barriers.
Until I began working with previously incarcerated “re-entry” citizens with our Habicorps Workforce Development program last February, I didn’t realize the challenges that formerly incarcerated people face in finding affordable housing. Policy makers must remove these barriers to affordable housing for so many of our citizens before the snowball of Covid-related evictions turns into an avalanche.
Affordable housing is key to people re-entering society and reducing recidivism. That is well documented. While “ban the box” initiatives were introduced and implemented in the state of Maryland in February 2020 with the goal of removing barriers for re-entry citizens seeking jobs following jail or prison time, that is not the case with housing.
Housing experts and the U.S. Housing and Urban Development call these “criminal lookback periods.” HUD says that in order to offer housing, property managers must follow Fair Housing Laws and implement Equal Credit Opportunity application practices.
But, currently, there is a disconnect between what HUD recommends and the reality facing applicants needing affordable housing in Wicomico County.
Habitat for Humanity of Wicomico County found — during efforts to find affordable housing for its clients — that 100 percent of the 49 apartment complexes surveyed within the Salisbury city limits, review and prohibit access to rental housing because of criminal backgrounds.
How many years more should a person continue to “pay their debt” to society after a criminal conviction and serving sentenced time?
One apartment complex in Salisbury, built with HUD and Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Funding (which is taxpayer money) managed by a company located in the state of Georgia thinks it is 10 years.
Other property managers for LIHTC apartments built in the last one to nine years think it is seven years. Still another that manages public housing thinks it is five years.
Imagine trying to find affordable housing, which is challenging enough, and not realizing that each apartment complex has different “lookback” rules.
All apartments have lengthy applications and application fees. Only one property management company now serving Wicomico County transparently discloses their lookback period.
When housing agency social workers speak of barriers to affordable housing, this is one of many — a big one. And the negative impact on low-income children and families is a well-documented ripple effect.
The city of Salisbury began surveying landlords and property managers last month to find out how property managers make rental admission decisions. Several shared that they are using Maryland Case Search. Words such as “patterns” come up — problematic because arrests are listed as well as convictions.
My opinion is that not only is this practice wrong, but also it is in direct conflict with recommended guidance from HUD.
The National Association of Realtors published memos to inform their members, but it appears that because no mandate was put into place, nothing happened in Wicomico County.
This system tears families apart. Too many re-entry individuals can no longer return to live with their families. When families can’t live together, the family income is reduced; family stability is threatened.
According to Vera.org, Maryland incarceration trends show Wicomico County at the highest in the state with 11,824 people per 100,000 people (2015) jailed per year. These arrests and convictions often create negative changes in family structures.
Thirty-nine percent of all children in Wicomico County schools are being raised by single parents. Another 6 percent are being raised by their grandparents. And one-out-of-three single-parent households is living below the poverty line (kidscount.org).
This just scratches the surface in terms of negative impact to children — our future. These problems over time magnify and create a disproportionately negative impact on our poorest and most vulnerable when they don’t have access to affordable housing.
Baltimore City Public Housing has already addressed this issue and now does not look at arrests, and has reduced lookback periods to 18 months for misdemeanors and three years for felonies. Montgomery County, Md., New York City and Seattle are creating policies right now to address it. Other states such as Michigan and Hawaii have already addressed lookback periods at the state level, reducing them to 24 months and 12 months respectively.
In July 2020, Delaware created a program to allow re-entry citizens to move into public housing homes with family members. A far cry from 10 years.
Maryland, Wicomico County and municipalities need to review this problem and create ordinances that give re-entry citizens fair access to affordable housing for complete families. As a community, we must assure that everyone matters by making policy changes, not suggestions cloaked as “discretion.”
When will our country begin to heal the wounds of mass incarceration and strengthen families? We can start with rebuilding our communities with access to affordable housing. We can start with conversations among all stakeholders, including criminal justice and housing departments at the county and state level, for example.
There will be an upside to offering access to affordable housing for more families. The long-term goals include children being raised by more than one adult with more financial stability. In turn, this results in less reliance on government programs. Families with stable homes raise children with better educational achievement in K-12.
With more housing opportunities, more families could become homeowners, improving and beautifying our cities and neighborhoods with every dollar they invest in their own property.
As a community, can’t we work toward creating hope for all people, where everyone has a fair shot at accessing housing? Do you want more homeless in your community as prison populations are released due to Covid-19 or released due to overall criminal reform?
Now that you know the scope of the problem, where do we go from here?
What do you want to do to help elevate the conversation to remove the secret barriers to affordable housing? Is it time to seriously talk about extending equal housing opportunity protections to re-entry citizens?
Molly Hilligoss is Executive Director of Habitat For Humanity of Wicomico County.
Here’s an idea…if you don’t want life to be hard, don’t be a criminal.
Stop trying to make everyone feel guilty or sorry for these people.
They made their own choices and now must live with the consequences of those choices.
The criminal background check exists to keep exactly these kind of people out of communities. The property owners know that these people will destroy their property, probably not pay rent and generally be a nuisance in the neighborhood.
They obviously weren’t good people before going to prison and the idea of rehabilitation in prison is a complete sham.
With the sharp decrease in local student rentals, landlords are stuck with empty housing. Are they stepping up to the plate?
Nope
There is a price to be paid beyond time served for committing a crime. If you don’t want the punishment, then choose the straight and narrow. There are too few disincentives for for committing crimes as far as I can see, especially assault, robbery, and violence.
Moral of the story, if you want access to affordable housing don’t go to jail. Or stay in jail forever where the housing is free.
For Christ sake, anything else you want to give people who don’t deserve it? Here you come with your cape on, trying to help with compassion and not realizing facts. And of course by all means let’s do what Baltimore does, being they’re the model for how a city should be run. I won’t state facts or stats, that would just infuriate your virtue signaling mental disability. Please stop trying to help excons who don’t want help, and will take advantage of your kindness. Try helping the homeless find help. The excons just had affordable housing, jail. And don’t blame the damn system for their circumstances for God’s sake. They put themselves in jail. They have to work for another chance, hard work. It’s sad that someone like you has a real chance to make a difference, and all you want to do is piss in the ocean to try to change the tide. But then again that’s probably your ill fated mission in life anyway.
SOoooo….molly, whom makes bank with tax payer funded fat salaries is preaching that wic co needs to be more like Baltimore and Montgomery co’s. Appears habitat for humanity has become the destroyer of communities. I dont think even the criminals would want the salisbury area to become like those areas. Stop assisting hab for hum and protect your neighborhoods, your children and your investments. These same people like molly find single family homes in neighborhoods and to rent for excons leaving prison. Thats what happened to our neighborhood….years of breaking and entering homes and cars, even LE arent aware of which homes house habitual criminals. This isnst make believe or fear porn, Iv witnessed this multible times. There are no jobs available. Habitat for Humanity isnt in this business to be a hero, their doing it to make bank on the taxpayer funded schemes.
Even when Duncan is told about the problems in your neighborhood she does nothing about it. We suffered for years while she diddled around
She knew all about him and who he was, his rap sheet
Seems like someone tipped him off to the raid. He was no where to be found.
I don’t know who you are , but , you are a socialist and communist . Stop feeding the cancer that low housing provides . This is designed for people of color many blacks . The buck stops here my friend . I don’t know why joe published this post , it has made me sick
of course it’s another reminder of what’s coming , Biden military rule with honoring criminals and queers.
Maybe Molly should be more involved if she is that concerned instead of writing on a blog. Maybe she can rent a bedroom out to one such felon.
Another liberal wanting to force us to live next to criminals, drug dealers and murderers. I guess she doesn’t read the local news much.. One recent story was of a drug dealer who was just released rearrested for drug dealing. I guess he didnt learn much in the pokey. But we should have to live next to him and the risk he brings when a rival gang member decides to shoot him in the head in his own bedroom
One has to ask Molly what the heck is mentally wrong with her that she is romanticizing criminals and their housing options. Just a poor boy from a poor family? He didn’t do nuffing wrong he is a good boy?
These POS bring havoc where ever they reside. We had one behind us for years. The trash was the tip of the iceberg, sprinkled in with loud drug parties all night, vicious pit bulls running loose, gang members showing up with guns to make a whacked out video and a drive by shooting at 2AM. Other neighborhoods have had such instances of murders.
Molly are you really that uninformed?
Another fact Molly omitted, that often times, these homes are rented by family members on hud and the criminal moves in and the actual signer is no where to be found. We do not know how many people actually lived in the house or which one of the many hoes was his girlfriend.
Molly seems to be living in one of those nice neighborhoods that are not subjected to this trash and has no clue, as to what reality is for the rest of us that are not as fortunate as her. Lets turn Mollys neighborhood into a ghetto and see how much she likes it and how quickly her opinion will be changing.
I say lets have a gang banging drug dealing alcohol infused party at Molly’s house, Bring your guns and putbulls so she gets the full effect.
The lies of Jake Day – we want to have more home ownership and less rentals
“of the 49 apartment complexes surveyed within the Salisbury city limits”
now you know why this place has turned into a shithole.
I can’t wait for round 2 where jake the snake tries to charge rental properties a higher tax rate than homeowners. While admitting there is no significant variance in use of resources.
hey mollie here’s an idea, let em stay with you!
Molly
This is what we call “consequences”. Something this country is sorely lacking.
Perhaps Molly is working with the developers who are building the new Ross Building. It’s gonna make a great place for these people and the developers don’t care as long as they get their money. What the hell is wrong with Habitat?
Liberal Molly, Here is how it goes in Dabury. Its called connect Dabury dots and proceeds in this order.
Bums druggies ECI welfare mommas and every other freeloader whats free shit.
Jake Julie Andy Josh Bill M Bill C Mike D Dave R John C love to give out taxpayer funded free shit.
This whats it like when Dabury is on free shit.
Liberal Molly, Here is how it goes in Dabury. Its called connect Dabury dots and proceeds in this order.
Bums druggies ECI welfare mommas and every other freeloader whats free shit.
Jake Julie Andy Josh Bill M Bill C Mike D Dave R John C love to give out taxpayer funded free shit.
This is what its like when Dabury is on free shit.
Molly really has no clue, an example would be;
“This system tears families apart. Too many re-entry individuals can no longer return to live with their families.”
Molly, they move here to visit them in prison. Meaning they have already established a residence. No one is asking who is sleeping in this established home. Land lords are not keeping a tally on how many come and go, how many kids, how many daddy’s, sisters, brothers and grandparents.
I don’t know who is feeding you this malarkey but you need to put down the koolaid and get a glimpse of reality.
Aren’t we cursed enough by the proximity of ECI that brings hundreds of prisoners’ family and “significant others” to live in tax-supported rentals and suck dry the teats of the welfare system?