Gov. Mike DeWine has signed House Bill 50 into law, which will eliminate some housing barriers for the formerly incarcerated and people affected by Ohio's justice system.
It went into effect in mid-September and was co-sponsored by a Columbus Democrat and a Cincinnati Republican.
WYSO’s Kathryn Mobley spoke with Sean Mitchell, the returning citizen coordinator at Sinclair Community College about the measure.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Kathryn Mobley: On average, how many people are released from Ohio's prisons each year?
Sean Mitchell: Traditionally, it's around 18,000 people per year in Ohio are released from our Ohio prisons.
Mobley: All these people are going to need housing. Are our communities equipped to handle that?
Mitchell: In a lot of cases, these folks have been (in prison and haven't needed housing in our communities) for two, five, seven, 15, 20 years and needing to come back to a world where, let's be honest, there was no such thing as online applications 15, 20 years ago. You knocked on someone's door and handed them a form with your $15 to say I want to live here. So a lot of communities are not equipped. Five years ago, the biggest concept in reentry work, it would be get a job, get a job, get a job. The No. 1 issue has now become housing. We're seeing that folks who we're working with aren't able to get a job because they don't have a safe place to stay. They don't have transportation to get back and forth. So you may have a great job willing to hire them, but if they're not in a space where they have a solid address or they have the opportunity to make it to work, they're just not going to be able to be successful there. So housing has become a major factor.
Mobley: This summer, Ohio legislators passed a new law addressing the issue of housing and justice impacted individuals. It's called House Bill 50. Exactly what is it?
Mitchell: House Bill 50 is what they call a CQ, or certificate for qualification for housing, which would ultimately state that as a system impacted individual, I am no longer the person of my past. Therefore, I've gone through this process. So you as a landlord, if you end up renting to me, and then if I go and commit another crime that caused some issue to my neighbor who you also rent to, they can't sue you within a civil court and claim that because you knowingly rented to me that you're now negligent and a party to this, and therefore have some sort of responsibility. So it takes that negligence and responsibility off of the landlord.
Mobley: How can it also benefit an individual who's been released from prison?
Mitchell: Having justice involvement on your record is not a protected class, which means I can legally discriminate against you and say because of what you did maybe 10 years ago, 20 years ago, as you were in a different time or space of your life, I can say I don't want to rent to you. The CQ, what it helps for the justice impacted individual is they get to say, 'Hey, look, I went in front of a judge. I have all of these programs, all of this education, all the support. I now have done all of these things that can demonstrate to you not only am I less risk to rent to, you don't have to worry so much about that fear around renting to me. And then if something does happen, you're just going to get all these lawsuits against you.' So a bill like this actually takes away some of the bias or the worries from landlords to be able to say, 'OK, I will rent to you.'
Mobley: Sean, you've also expressed some concerns about a recent report regarding homelessness and available housing in Ohio. What is it?
Mitchell: The Coalition on Housing and Homelessness in Ohio just put out a report or study that said for every 100 people needing affordable housing here in Ohio, about 40 units are available. And so when you mix that on top of the discrimination, you mix that on top of needing to navigate resources and supports trying to find employment — ultimately it just creates such an insurmountable mountain of trials that the justice impacted individual is really hard to jump over, navigate without some help or support.
