My City May 2023

MYCITYLAW

two in the state that employ felons.” Golden adds, “We are looking into ways to make hiring felons more attractive to business owners. Incar ceration has been classified as a social determinant of health, and so we are pushing to include Medicaid in the employment process.” Besides their work with housing and employment, Nation Outside provides help and advocates for returning citizens who would like to attend college through fairness in admission forms and procedures, pro vides mentoring and support, and helps with workforce training and certifications. Another large piece of the puzzle is civic engagement and empowerment. “We push for our returning citizens to be civic-minded,”states Goldon.

“We work to give them the tools to impact policy and be a part of their community. Voter disenfranchisement is a big issue in the incarcerated community; we want them to exercise their power, to show up to the city council meet ings, to be knowledgeable and to vote.” Allen-Bey has embraced the message thor oughly and spreads it to other returning citizens in Flint. “Most people don’t know that released felons can vote in the State of Michigan,” he states. “When a person is released from prison, they are auto matically registered to vote.” In fact, in Michigan, those on probation, on parole or in jail waiting to be sentenced are el igible to vote. “We went to the jail in Flint and helped them complete the process. In the

wolfhound911 / stock.adobe.com

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