Minnesota Council On Crime And Justice

Programs: Advocacy and research program: our efforts to identify, address and reduce the collateral consequences of criminal records included the following accomplishments in 2014: 1) trained over 571 workforce providers on how to help people with criminal records obtain employment, education and professional licensing; 2) advised 738 community members at free legal clinics designed to help them better understand their criminal records, improve their ability to discuss their record with employers and landlords, and access legal remedies such as record expungement and licensing appeals; 3) counseled over 452 attorneys, judges, police officers, probation officers and professionals so they may better represent, understand and serve the one in four minnesotans with criminal records; 4) successfully advocated for legislation to ban-the-box, allowing job applicants criminal records a better opportunity to receive interviews.

offender & family programs: programs focusing on prisoners, ex-prisoners and impacted family members with a focus on recidivism reduction and successful community reintegration. Over 300 individuals were provided mentoring, parenting education, peer support groups, sustainable housing and employment services to help reduce recidivism and increase public safety. Another 150 veterans impacted by the criminal justice system were provided assistance with mental health court, stable housing and circles of support and accountability through our veterans justice corps program.

crime victim advocates program: our wraparound victim legal assistance network (wvlan) demonstration project produced 300 pages of needs assessment that lead to a coordinated project with 15 service provider partners working to deliver direct legal representation to victims in minnesota. Our general crime victim service (gcvs) advocates and volunteers provided over 7,200 hours of crisis intervention and direct services in order to help nearly 625 individuals impacted by crime. Our 24-hour hotline is a statewide service providing an immediate opportunity for short-term crisis counseling, guidance and resources.

pew health impact assessment (hia)