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A09544 Summary:

BILL NOA09544A
 
SAME ASSAME AS S08937-A
 
SPONSORMcDonald
 
COSPNSRBurdick, Simon, Hevesi, Glick, Woerner, DeStefano, Davila, Reyes, Burgos, Bendett, Hyndman
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Amd §162, St Fin L
 
Includes entities that provide employment or services to formerly incarcerated persons in the preferred source exemption for purposes of state purchasing.
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A09544 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A9544A
 
SPONSOR: McDonald
  TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the state finance law, in relation to preferred source status for entities that provide employment and services to certain persons   PURPOSE: This legislation would allow the commissioner of education to approve qualified charitable non-profit making agencies that provide vocational and rehabilitative training to formerly incarcerated persons to partic- ipate in the preferred source program. The legislation also makes other minor language changes to accommodate the modernization of preferred source services.   SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Section one amends subdivision 1 of section 162 of the state finance law to add assembled or fulfilled to the tasks performed by preferred sourc- es. Sections two, three, three-a, four, four-a, and five amend section 162 of the state finance law to add formerly incarcerated persons, so that qualified charitable non-profits that provide vocational and rehabilita- tive training programs for formerly incarcerated may be approved by the commissioner of education and participate in the preferred source program. Section six establishes the effective date.   JUSTIFICATION: People with disabilities are overrepresented at all stages of the crimi- nal justice system, from jail and prison to probation and parole. According to a February 2024 report by the Prison Population Initiative individuals in the prison population with disabilities is 40% as compared to 15% of the United States general population. For women those incarcerated with disabilities rises to 50%. While cognitive disabili- ties such as autism, Down syndrome, and learning disorders impact about 1/4 of incarcerated people, visual, hearing, and ambulatory disabilities are not uncommon, and individuals with these disabilities are often overlooked and subject to inhumane treatment. This legislation would help the formerly incarcerated, many of whom suffer from a disability, secure stabilizing employment opportunities. NYSID has a network of service providers that provide vocational and rehabilitative training to formerly incarcerated individuals. Allowing access to the preferred source program would allow those individuals employment opportunities at re-entry. NYSID could better capture indi- viduals with disabilities through expansion of its service/catchment to those who have been formerly incarcerated. NYSID currently works with non-profits that serve both individuals with disabilities and individuals that have been formerly incarcerated. Those agencies include but are not limited to Second Chance Opportunities (Albany), Osborne Associates (NYC), Good Will of NY (NYC), Good Will Finger Lakes (Rochester), and Peter Young Housing Industries (Albany). There are a host of other NFP's in the formerly incarcerated space that could become members of NYSID.   LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: New bill   FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None   EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect immediately. APPENDIX: Prison Policy Initiative www.prisonpolicy.org *Percent of people in state prisons who have a disability: 40*+ *Of Women in state prisons: 50% *Percent of people on probation or parole who have a disability: 23% *Fraction of people killed by law enforcement who have a disability: 1/3 *Percent of people in state prisons with a history of taking special education classes: 25%. *People with disabilities are overrepresented at all stages of the crim- inal justice system, from jail and prison to probation and parole. Compared to 15% of the US population, 40% of people in state prisons have a disability. Cognitive disabilities such as autism, down syndrome and learning disabilities impact k of incarcerated people." Barriers to Justice: Inaccessibility of New York's Criminal Justice System for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities by Michelle H. Walton *ID/DD is an invisible disability the criminal justice system often fails to acknowledge or accommodate. Instead, behavioral manifestations of disability may be misconstrued as criminal behavior. Individuals with ID/DD are overrepresented in the justice system. Given the substantial discrimination and challenges encountered by justice-involved individ- uals with ID/DD from the time of arrest to incarceration, disproportion- ality is inevitable. Justice-involved individuals with ID/DD are likely to come from econom- ically disadvantaged backgrounds and from communities with increased law enforcement presence. Many individuals with ID/DD have histories of victimization and may struggle with the long-term e4e+-;..s of trauma. -ndividuals with mild ID may have-learned to pass as, nondisabled, mal attempt to hide their disability to gain social acceptance, and may have developed skills to hide limitations in communication and cognition. Individuals may not be willing to disclose their disability with crimi- nal justice personnel because of fear. As a result, many individuals are processed through the criminal justice system without being identified as having a disability or being in need of additional support services.
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