Harris County Expunction Clinic And Job Fair Helping To Reduce Crime Through Providing “Tools To Rebuild, Work, And Thrive.”

Last month, thousands of Harris County residents who have a previous criminal record, have served their time and want a clean slate, showed up to the second county Expunction Clinic and Job Fair—hosted by Commissioner Rodney Ellis, Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare, Constable James Phillips, and City Councilmember Carolyn Evans-Shabazz—to get a second chance and obtain the “tools to rebuild, work, and thrive.”

Here’s What Commissioner Ellis Is Saying: “It's so important to let people know that second chances can happen. If you get your training, if you go through the process, if your record can be expunged, all of the services that you need are here. If people have done their time, at some point they go back into society. And what we ought to do is do as much as we can, at least help them get the skills. So if they want to stay on the straight and narrow, they can. One of the best ways to reduce crime is a job. And one of the best ways to get people a job is to get them trained. And one of the best ways to get them in those programs is, if they have a record that can be expunged, get it expunged, so they can get that second chance.”

As KHOU’s Michelle Choi reported in April about the first clinic of this kind, “for people with a criminal record, finding a job or even a place to live can be a constant uphill battle,” but efforts like this help people “take their next step forward.” Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare explained to the news station that “helping people clear their records isn’t just about giving them a chance; it’s about reducing crime and preventing recidivism…‘When people get caught up in the system, if we're not intentional about giving them a second chance... then all we're doing is perpetuating a cycle. The lack of hope is responsible for so much of the crime that we all experience and this gives people hope, an opportunity to get on a different path.”