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Hancock County coalition aims to help people with criminal records get a second chance

The Second Chance Coalition aims to give opportunities to people who have completed a criminal sentence a chance to become contributing citizens again.

FINDLAY, Ohio — Nearly one in three Americans have a criminal record, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

That record can limit a person's opportunities in their communities, which is why a coalition in Findlay is working to make sure people with a criminal record can find resources to get them back on track.

In its second year, the Hancock County Second Chance Coalition aims to help individuals who were incarcerated or have a criminal record as many who exit the corrections and rehabilitation system tend to find difficulties finding steady jobs and a place to live.

"There are so many walls you hit when you have a criminal past, like housing and employment," Sharona Bishop, a peer support specialist at Hancock Public Health, said.

One of the coalition's founders is Claire Osborne, who was incarcerated herself and tried to go back to college after fulfilling her sentence.

"When I first got out of prison and went back to school for social work there wasn't even a guarantee that I would be able to get a license, that I would be able to practice with that license. And I didn't have anyone to look to to say 'Ah yes, that's how I do it,'" Osborne said.

The coalition works with local organizations that can help, including Job & Family Services of Hancock County, Legal Aid of Western Ohio, local courts and recovery centers, many of which offer their services free of charge.

"A community is only as strong as its weakest link," Dan Metzger, a senior pastor at St. Marks United Methodist Church, said. "A part of what we are meant to do is lift one another up."

Osborne said connecting formerly-incarcerated individuals with these organizations can not only help them but help ultimately the entire community too.

"That's really what we're doing here, is ensuring that the members in our community impacted by criminal records have that hope that they need," Osborne said. "When we provide everyone in our community, even those who have been impacted by some of the hardest things that somebody could go through have a place to belong, then our whole community will get to benefit from that."

Next Thursday, the Findlay Municipal Court will be hosting its sixth annual Safe Surrender Day, where anyone with an outstanding warrant can enter the courtroom without any risk of being arrested to begin the process of taking care of their legal trouble.

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