Natalie Peoples testifies on Intro 1104 and need for counsel at intake
Natalie Peoples of the Legal Aid Society says Intro 1104 does not go far enough because intake interviews happen post-arrest and pre-filing before counsel is assigned. She says decisions made during that interview can affect the long-term posture of a child's case and asks that counsel be required at that stage.
I also want to talk about certificates of relief from civil disabilities.
Again, this has a lot to do with rehabilitation.
BDS has worked with the Department of Probation actually doing CRD drives within the community at different locations.
While a CRD is not the end all in terms of people being able to obtain employment, it certainly helps, especially when there are legal barriers to employment, such as security guard licenses
or TLC licenses.
By getting a certificate of relief from civil disabilities, many people can
obtain such employment.
In the old days, the Department of Probation had a policy where all probation reports also had a recommendation about CRDs.
We have seen that practice fall out of place, and we are asking probation to again
recommend CRDs whenever a probation report is completed, especially obviously when a person is going to receive a sentence of probation.
When someone gets a prison sentence, probation doesn't have any control over that and the person has to be recommended for a CRD by the parole board.
So I would just ask that probation, again, bring back that practice where every PSI has a recommendation attached.
Finally, early termination of probation.
There was some testimony earlier about the early termination program, but I do want to emphasize that there are many people who are serving.