Reentry Justice Project

Since 2015, Legal Aid DC’s Reentry Justice Project has been dedicated to assisting clients facing barriers in accessing housing, employment, and other civil rights and opportunities as a result of having a criminal record. Individuals who have interacted with police and the criminal judicial system—disproportionately people of color and people who live in areas of concentrated poverty—find themselves facing a multitude of collateral civil consequences that act in real and concrete ways to perpetuate generational cycles of poverty. The Project seeks to eliminate those barriers through direct representation and systemic advocacy. We provide representation to clients in areas including criminal record sealing, housing and employment denials based on criminal history, and challenges to other collateral consequences arising within our civil legal practice areas. We also advocate for policy changes before the D.C. Council, administrative agencies, and other legislative and regulatory bodies.