Housing sex offenders and parolees can cause significant concern for the communities they end up living in. According to truth-out.org advocates are organizing against what they say is an overlooked civil rights issue; the exclusion of ex-offenders, overwhelmingly people of color, from public and subsidized housing. Many subsidized housing providers employ lifetime bans against people with criminal background records, despite a stated commitment to “second chances” by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). We have seen the spread of ban-the-box legislation across the country tackling the civil rights of past offenders and giving them a second chance by eliminating the “do you have a criminal record” question from job applications. Now the focus is moving towards housing and particularly housing for parolees and sex offenders. Many communities do not want these people in their neighborhood, but the truth is they need to live somewhere.
Most sex offenders have to live by very strict rules such as not being able to live close to schools, parks and other places where children are present. In some cases predator free zones put an entire town or county off limits, sometimes for life even for those whose offenses had nothing to do with children. Sometimes a State will mandate a location and actually rent out a place to live on behalf of the parolee. In a case like this there is no tenant screening performed as the State rents out the apartment or house.
In Ionia, MI an arrangement was made with a tier 3 sex offender and another former prisoner for housing as they would have been homeless coming out of prison. According to the sentinel-standard.com this situation came with great concern from residents in the community. It was the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) who rented the building for the ex-cons. Mayor Daniel Balice said there was nothing the city council could do to prevent the owner of the house from renting to the MDOC. He asked Ionia Department of Public Safety (IDPS) Director Troy Thomas if the house was being monitored and Thomas said the IDPS is aware of the situation.
Second chances are important and in order to have a real opportunity at a crime free life the ex-offender will need a place to live and the chance to find a decent job. With the civil rights of these people in the spotlight it still makes sense for landlords and property managers to conduct tenant background checks especially in areas where other tenants have children or where community members won’t tolerate past criminal offenders living in their neighborhood.
There needs to be some kind of compromise between ex-offenders and the greater public. Certainly HUD and the Federal Government need to create a housing and employment system that allows ex-cons a real opportunity to be productive and be positive contributors to society, and a second chance at a crime free life. This of course has to be balanced with the safety of the community at large and must protect at-risk populations like children and the elderly.
To learn more about the challenges for parolees, sex offenders and the communities they live in, along with how this effects civil rights please read recent TenantScreeningUSA.com press release.