HomeMy WebLinkAboutSubmittal-Jodi Szabo-Letter to CommissionersSubmitted into the public{
record fpr it�YnJ) _. n
Hope
City
Center
Tr4nsfurmirm !ism...
Rehirrj on the Hope of Christ
April 13, 2017
City of Miami Commissioners Meeting
10
on � City Clerk
I, Jodi Szabo, am a volunteer with and representing Hope City Center, 2103 Coral Way Suite
#202 Miami, Florida 33145.
Hope City Center supports the City of Miami Commissioners urging Governor Rick Scott and
members of the Florida Legislature to enact Senate Bill 276 and House Bill 275 that would
LrlCutC [i JtatG vwik up to wi y Ici.1 l.iCdtt llti 1.:1J111GJJGJ it) i111G tilt)JG WHY Vl a 1Glutry
Hope City Center has concerns that the federal Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) and
Federal Bonding Program are seen by potential employers as intrusive and cumbersome. This
has proven more an enhanced barrier to gainful employment.
When Hone City Center attempts to "woo" employers_ almost immediately employers reluctant
to hire clients because of the amount of paperwork and filing required. Tax credits are not a big
enough "carrot" to get employers to participate against this backdrop.
According to a 2011 paper by the Northwestern Law Bluhm Legal Clinic, "The IRS Forms
indicate that the estimated average time for preparing the IRS forms is 11 hours. This is
considered by many time consuming.
The feasibility study must examine thoroughly the existing criteria, develop suggestions and
actions which address the stringent process of the federal WOTC. Upon completion it would
serve the community's best interest for the City of Miami to host a workshop educating non-
profits, employers and community leaders on the benefits of hiring formerly convicted citizens.
One example that can be examined is the second annual Northeast Ohio Re -Entry Business
Summit will be held in Cleveland, Ohio next week (April 20, 2017). This event that will focus on
the opportunities available for businesses to participate in re-entry and will provide guidance, as
well as legal advice, tax credit information and real -life examples.
There are many examples we can look at in other states such as; Illinois Tax Credit,
California enacted the New Employment Credit, San Francisco, Philadelphia has the
Employment Incentive Payment Program.
Hope City Center is in support and available to explore solutions to this mounting challenge
which negatively impacts our citizens on a countywide level.
2103 Coral Way Suite #202 Miami, Florida 33145
www.hopecitycenter.org - teresa(ahopecitycenter.org
(786) 563-3311
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submittedF:,")Reentr., sut iiew
April 2016 • Volume 7 • Issue 1
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES • OFFICE OF REENTRY
CHANGING OUR THINKING ABOUT EX -OFFENDERS
By Judge IGJ. Montgomery
Many people in Ohio are out of work. It is no surprise that men and
women coming out of jail or prison are not employed. The Council
of State Governments' Justice Center prepared a study about the
correlation between employment and whether former prisoners
will commit future crimes.
Some people may question why limited resources should be
focused on this population when law-abiding citizens need jobs.
This Department of Justice supported study noted that "successful
reintegration into the workforce can make neighborhoods and
families safer and more stable. Linking individuals who have
been involved with the corrections system to jobs and helping
tnem succeed can reduce the staggenng costs to taxpayers tor
reincarceration and increase contributions to the tax base. If
releasees and supervisees are working, their time is being spent
in constructive ways and they are then less likely to engage in
crime and disorder in their neighborhoods. They are also likely to
develop prosocial relationships when their time is structured with
'riv.n arid they are able ♦w help rare and provide
for
a Icn (al / uuw.
Over the past years, there has been a more concerted effort to
provide training and teach skills to prisoners before release from
jail. The training includes programs like "Thinking for Change",
which encourages individuals to make healthy choices in their
daily lives. In Thinking for Change, the offenders role-play stressful
situations that might occur in a job, family confrontation or with
strangers. They try to shed "old ways" of thinking that may have
gotten them into trouble in the past.
The DOJ study continues by noting, "[a]s the reentry movement
has advanced over the last decade, there has been increasing
Q WQ(GI 'coo that helping (y individuals QYt/tU re -offending lg can
increase their success in reclaiming their lives and can improve
neighborhoods and communities. This is particularly true for
neighborhoods that typically receive a disproportionate number
of individuals returning from incarceration, and which also tend
to lack social service resources. Research confirms that these
vi llnPrahlk arPac alrParly fares high gang activity pnvPrtv arw
unemployment. This high unemployment - especially among
those returning from incarceration - contributes to the destabilizing
impact on communities and families."
Where are "those" neighborhoods in Ohio? In 2004, 28,177
prisoners were released from prisons across the state of Ohio -
wnicn, by tne way, was b times tne number of prisoners released
in 1980. Almost 20% of those individuals retumed to Cuyahoga
County and, of those, 79% lived in the city of Cleveland. An Urban
Institute Justice Policy Center report from 2006 noted that the
Central, Hough and Union -Miles neighborhoods were home to
18% of those retumees.
THE R.I.S.E. PROGRAM HELPS AT EUCLID JAIL
The Cuyahoga County jail is conducting a cutting edge program
to ready some of their prisoners for the job market. The program
called "R.I.S.E.", or Reintegration of Ex -Offenders, is funded
through a Department of Labor grant. The program is voluntary
and the prisoners participating are housed at the Euclid jail.
In order to be eligible to participate in R.I.S.E., the prisoner must
have been convicted as an adult of an offense that is not a sexual
offense. The conviction resulting in the jail sentence may even be
a conviction under our city codes!
Before release from jail, the prisoner receives:
• An employment assessment
• Individualized employment planning
• Career exploration services
• Job readiness skills training
• ABLE or GED classes
• Substance abuse services, if needed
• Thinking for Change workshops
The program continues to serve offenders once released. Job
rlini.rn training b Innn.v.nn1 A tendon continue
1 VGVII IS JJ training, JSIJ pdWWI I(\.l I11J11V 1V\VI IUVi1 serviced IWJ WI It11I I4,
in an effort to help the offender re-enter the community in a positive
light.
CHOPPING FOR CHANGE HELPS WOMEN...
Female prisoners at the Northeast Pre-release Center on East
30th Street have begun to participate in the new "Chopping for
Change" program. Beginning in 2015, the work training program is
intended to provide culinary skills training for women who have 6
to 9 months of their prison sentence remaining. Carefully screened
participants receive day passes and transportation to Central
Kitchen. Part of the Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry, Central Kitchen
distributes food W ithln V lCVC1d_U I3 hU-_1CbS 3hICItG_system, which
is prepared at a centralized location in Cleveland.
The women receive weekly classes for 3 months, leaming the
basics of cooking and kitchen safety and become SafeSery
certified. They spend another 10 hours per week with Chefs Mark
Ridenour and Brad Taylor, applying their leamed skills in the
Central Kitchen facilities. They even have the option to become
recognized certified cooks by the American Culinary Federation,
which can lead to meaningful employment in the many area
eateries when their sentences are complete.
Central Kitchen is recognized as a trade school by the state of Ohio.
Page 1
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HELPING INDIVIDUALS WITH CRiMTNAL REENTER THROUGH EMPLOYMENT
Submitted into the Public�Q r
record f ite s) r\ G 10
on 13 City Clerk
The United States Govemment offers a tPdPrat tav _edit (httn;//www.hirenetwodc one/wotc ntmu of up to $2,400 for employers who hire individuals from nine targeted groups
of job seekers, including individuals with felony records. States can offer an additional tax break to business owners who hire people with criminal records as one way
to support the re-entry of those who are legitimately trying to return to the job market in order to support their families and rejoin their communities.
Six states - California, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, and Texas - provide state income tax credits to employers who hire people with criminal records. In1998, the
Hawaii Legislature proposed an employment discrimination measure that would have required the state to 'appeal to the community spirit and good citizenship' in
order to encourage employers to hire individuals with arrest and court records. Even though this measure was never passed, it was suggested that a tax incentive
should be provided for employers who hired recently released felons.
Five states - Florida, Missouri, Indiana, Delaware and Pennsylvania - have statutes that allow for the receipt of tax credits for any business that contributes to crime
prevention. Upon further inquiry, it is clear that crime prevention refers primarily to location, not to individuals.
A bill was recently introduced In the Ohio Legislature that would extend a tax credit against the state's corporate franchise and personal income taxes for wages paid
by employers to employees who have been convicted of felonies.
For contact information for each of the following state's Department of Labor, please see the. section of this website.
Summary of States Granting Additional Income Tax Credits
1. California
Any employer who hires an "ex -offender" may be eligible for a state tax credit. The credit given is equal to the sum of each of the following:
(1) 50% of qualified wages in the first year of employment.
(2) 10% or n..aliAaI wagesn the .t .i of employment
(3) 30% of qualified wages in the third year of employment.
(4) 20% of qualified wages in the fourth year of employment.
(5) 10% of qualified wages In the fifth year of employment.
Additional Contact: California Employment Development Department
2. Illinois
The Ex -felon lobs Credit allows any employer that hires any number of "qualified ex -offenders" to apply for a credit amount equal to 5% of qualified wages paid or up
to $600 per hire. A "qualified ex -offender" must be formerly incarcerated from an Illinois adult correction facilitiy and was hired within the first year of his/her release
from prison.
3. Iowa
Employers In Iowa are allowed an additional deduction on their Iowa income tax returns for hiring a person who has been convicted of a felony (in Iowa, any other
SIWLC, ul Lim DiSLI Ili will, iS SL-I villy a ,ld1u1C u1 ,!1 VUdL1U11 SCI ILCI !LC UI ill ,ldl iilirldii I ly 111 a Wul1L I C,CdSC ,ll uyl dill. 11IIS UCUUL.LIUII IS G570 UI Lim wdy CS
paid in the first 12 months of employment; the maximum deduction is $20,000 per employee.
Additional Contact: Iowa Department of Revenue or http://www.state.ia.us/tax/educate/78522.html ihttovlwwwstate.ta.usttax/educate/78522.htmD
4. Louisiana
A tax credit is available to any taxpayer who provides full-time employment (at least 30 hours per week) to an individual who has been convicted of a first time drug
offense and who is less than twenty-five years of age at the time of initial employment.
The credit is $200 per taxable year per eligible employee. Only one credit is allowed per taxable year per employee and may be received for a maximum of two years
per employee.
The credit is available upon certification by the employee's probation officer that the employee has successfully completed a court -ordered drug treatment program
and has worked 180 days full time for the employer seeking the credit.
Additional Contact: Louisiana Department of Revenue
5. Maryland
For each taxable year, for the wages paid to each qualified ex -felon employee, a credit is allowed in an amount equal to:
(1) 30% of up to the first $ 6,000 of the wages paid to the qualified ex -felon employee during the first year of employment; and
(2) 20% of up to the first $ 6,000 of the wages paid to the qualified ex -felon employee during the second year of employment.
For nl Irrnmc of this rroAih an av-falnn amnlnvoa k anvnno whn !lac hoan rnnvirfar( of a data nr forlorn! FFInnv is New( within a voar of hainn rnnvirtari nr ralaacarl
from prison; and is member of a family with an annual income 70% below the Bureau of Labor Statistics living standard.
Additional Contact: Maryland Department of Employment Services
6. Texas
1111,
The amount of the credit for wages paid by a corporation to an employee who was employed by the corporation when the employee was a work program participant is
equal to 10% of that portion of the wages paid that, were the employee still a participant, the department would apportion to the state as reimbursement for the cost
of the participant's confinement.
Additional Contact: Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
Last updated: 2007
.. CAL. REV. & TAX CODE § 17053.34; LA. REV. STAT. ANN. § 47:287.752; MD. CODE ANN., LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT § 11-702 (2002); TEX. TAX CODE ANN. §
171.654; IOWA CODE § 422.35 (2003).
See Hearings on H.B. 3528 (H.D. 1), 19th Leg., Reg. Sess. (1998) (testimony on behalf of SHRM)
I. See H.R. Stand Comm. Rep. No.244, 20th Leg., Reg. Sess. (1998). The Hawaii House of Representatives committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs believed
fhaf a :a,:n1 rari,:rc rarir+i,.,iem J , halninn fnlnne fin;i nainf:11 amnln..manf Caa iri
FLA. STAT. ANN. § 212.097; MO. REV. STAT. § 32.110; IND. CODE ANN. § 6-3.1-9-2; DEL. CODE ANN. tit. 30, § 2004; 72 PA. CONS. STAT.§ 8904-A
;. Telephone interview with Sandra Bellamy, Tax Specialist, Florida Department of Revenue, who noted that this credit is not associated with the hiring of any targeted
population; rather,it refers to locations where there is a high incidence of crime (July 25, 2003).
125th Ohio General Assembly, House Bill 206 (www.iegislature.state.oh.us (nlit,;t, +w,,,leglsialwe.state.oh.u;;J. The bill received a first hearing in the House Ways and
Means but has not progressed further.
J
Submitted into the public IkE
record f'p� itepn(s)
.10
on 7 I IS ► I ► City Clerk
Submitted into the pub
Tax Credits for Tmployrersit it m( )
DriIluymerit Iri-eritive nay.rla_t (MP) Tax Credits: Eak.,lwye-
s caiii
Pennsylvania state tax credits for hiring people who receive state rehabilitation
services and/or cash welfare benefits. The employee must work one year in order to qualify
the employer for EIP tax credits. Employers eam state tax credits of up to 30 percent of the
employee's first $9,000 in first year wages; 20 percent for year two; and 10 percent for year
three. Within three weeks of the employee's start date, the employer must complete and
submit an EIP Tax Credit Certification Request Form. CIS can give employer's this form. or it
can be downloaded and additional information obtained from PA's Department of Labor and
Industry at http://www.dli.state.pa.us, or by calling 1-800-345-2555.
Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC): Employers earn federal tax credits of up to $2,400
per worker, for hiring people who meet targeted eligibility criteria. WOTC is available for
people receiving state rehabilitation services, welfare/food stamps, certain residents of
Philadelphia's E—.-u-wr-uirni Zufiesrrtrurwai Comnmua_ iics (HUD a sigudiiois), SS;
+eciNiciiu,
etc. To receive WOTC, within four weeks of the employee's start date, the emplyer must
complete and submit:
• IRS Form 8850 (CIS can give employers this form, or it can be downloaded from www.irs.gov).
• Department of Labor/ETA Forms 9062 or 9061. Some employees will already have ETA Form 9062 - employers simply
sign and date it. Employers and employees complete Form 9062 when the employee does not already have Form
9061. (CiS l.dll give enipiwyerS 1111s form, Ur it l.dll be UUw11iUddeu I1Urr1 www.uii.siaie.pa.us).
• Within four weeks of an employee's start date, IRS Form 8850 and ETA Forms 9062 or 9061 must be submitted to: PA
Department of Labor & Industry, Bureau of Workforce Investment, 12rh Floor, Labor & Industry Building, Harrisburg,
PA 17120.
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Empowerment Zone/Renewal Community Employment Tax Credits: Employers eam federal tax credits when
thay are, Inratc.r1 rnnriitrt their hiteinace anti hires eimplfirricic within Fmnnwarmnnt 7nne,c and Ranawal rrimy 'nit lac•
sections of the city designated as "distressed" by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Employers
verify their business location and employees address are in an Empowerment Zone and/or Renewal Community on HUD's
Address Locator at www.hud.gov/crlocator.
✓Employers within an Empowerment Zone who hire an employee who lives and
works in the same zone, can claim a tax credit of 20% of the employee's first
515,000 in wages (that have not already been claimed for the Work Opportunity
Tax Credit), up to $3,000 per employee.
✓Employers within a Renewal Community who hire an employee who lives and
works in the same community, can claim a tax credit of 15% of the employee's
first $10,000 in wages (that have not already been claimed for the Work
Opportunity Tax Credit), up to $1,500 per employee.
For more information on the Work Opportunity Tax Credit and the Empowerment
Zone/Renewal Community Employment Tax Credits see IRS Publication 954 Tax
Incentives for Distressed Communities, at www.irs.gov.
Philadelphia Re -Entry Employment Program (PREP): Grants a $10,000 credit against
Philadelphia's Business Privilege Tax to any eligible employer who hires an ex -offender. Employers
can receive up to a $10,000 tax credit each year for three years for each ex -offender hired for at
least six months. The maximum amount of tax credit a business may receive for any one Qualifying Employee over all tax
years is $30,000.
A Qualifying Employee is an ex -offender who is employed for the tax year in a full time job with an hourly rate, excluding
benefits, of at least 150% of the federal minimum wage and who receives an employment package that includes the same
hcnnfitc ac arP nrnviripri to nthPr frill times Pmnlnunne anti tiritinn ciinnnrt fnr (;Fr1 Cnmmiinitu Cnldpop nr nthpr nnct-
secondary education. An ex -offender is a person previously convicted of a felony, or who was incarcerated for any
conviction, or who is currently on probation or parole for any conviction or who is currently in a work release program or
programmed for work release.
In order to be eligible to receive PREP Tax Credits, a business must first execute a PREP Tax Credit Agreement with the
Revenue Department. Program inquiries to Philadelphia's Department of Revenue, Technical Staff, 215-686-6434, or the
Mayor's uiiice for the Reentry of EX-i11rr1dtes (2 i 5) 685-.30 15.
Legend
RUE Z/E C Areas
® Renevai Community
Empowerment Zone