About the Report The Report, Part II: Review of the Re-Entry Process:

chapters and policy statements:
About the Report of the Re-Entry Council

Policy Statement 24, Research Highlight 7

A Drug Provision added to the Higher Education Act in 1998 renders many individuals with drug convictions ineligible for student financial aid.

Federal student aid applicants who reveal past drug convictions on their applications - including many individuals incarcerated in or released from prison or jail - face disqualification for that aid under federal law. The Drug Provision to the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1091(r)) suspends or revokes the eligibility of these individuals for "any grant, loan, or work assistance" for varying periods of time after their convictions, and in some cases, indefinitely. Department of Education data indicates that the provision has adversely affected more than 150,000 applicants. By law, individuals may re-establish eligibility by satisfactorily completing a drug rehabilitation program which includes two unannounced drug tests and meets certain other requirements.

Charting Roadblocks to Re-Entry

The Legal Action Center has produced a comprehensive study - "After Prison: Roadblocks to Reentry" - of the legal barriers in all 50 states that people with criminal records must overcome in order to lead productive, law-abiding lives and successfully rejoin society.

The report provides three key pieces of information:

  • Documentation of state laws and policies that prevent qualified individuals with arrest and conviction records from obtaining employment, housing, food stamps and public assistance, and driver's licenses, and from voting and becoming adoptive and foster parents.
  • Grading of states on whether their laws and policies help or hinder the ability of people with criminal records to re-enter society successfully. This "Report Card" distinguishes between policies that serve legitimate ends, such as enabling employers to screen out individuals whose criminal behavior demonstrates that they pose an unreasonable risk to public safety, and roadblocks that unfairly prevent those who do not pose a threat to public safety from successfully re-entering society.
  • A blueprint for reform, outlining a series of legislative reforms that state and federal governments should enact to ensure that that people with past criminal records are able to re-integrate successfully.

    • The study's complete findings, including specific information on the applicable laws in all 50 states, can be found on the Legal Action Center's website at www.lac.org/roadblocks.php.

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