Next ​“Second Chance” Target: Hair

One of the heartbreaks of Karaine Smith-Holness’s 20-plus career as a hair stylist, business owner, mentor and teacher was to tell a young woman that she couldn’t take the test to become a licensed cosmetologist — because the state only allows it on a case-by-case basis.

A new bill aimed at providing more employment opportunities for the formerly incarcerated could change that.

Smith-Holness owns Hair’s Kay Salon on Fitch Street and used to run Hair’s Kay Academy of Cosmetology, a not-for-profit beauty school that closed in 2016. The woman wanted to enroll at the school, but it turned out she had a criminal record.

“This lady had spent some time at Niantic,” Smith-Holness recalled. ​“She brought me all the things that she had done, but if you have a criminal record you can’t take the test.”

Would-be cosmetologists have to receive 1,500 hours of education. (Barbers must have 1,000 hours.) The education can cost as much as $25,000. They also have to sit for and pass a written exam administered by the state to obtain a license.

Smith-Holness said having to break that news to an aspiring hairstylist or barber with a criminal record is particularly disheartening now that cosmetology is being taught in some prisons. Vocational education in cosmetology and barbering exist at state Department of Corrections facilities such as York Correctional Institution in Niantic and at MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield, respectively. But conventional wisdom among those in both fields and even among those who assist with reentry is that those with criminal histories can’t sit for the exam, or obtain a license to do either.

“If you made a mistake — whatever the mistake was — and you paid your time, why not allow them to have that second chance,” she said.

A bill proposed in the state legislature would do just that — give people a second chance at a new life, and possibly provide a career opportunity. The bill, sponsored by State Reps. Peter Tercyak of New Britain and Josh Elliott of Hamden, would remove any barriers to those with criminal records obtaining a licenses.

“This bill exempts barbers and hairdressers from having to submit to a state and national criminal background check as a pre-requisite for state licensure,” according to a joint favorable report the bill received from the state legislature’s Public Health Committee. ​“It also prohibits [Department of Public Health] from (1) denying an application for licensure by examination or endorsement, (2) denying reinstatement of a license, or (3) issuing a conditional license to a barber or hairdresser solely because he or she was found guilty or convicted of a felony.”

Maura Downes, director of communications for the state Department of Public Health, said that in fact no automatic restrictions prohibit people with criminal records from obtaining a license in barbering or cosmetology, and the department doesn’t conduct background checks either.

“As with all license types, the department does currently have discretion to grant or not grant licenses or to grant a license with certain conditions or stipulations,” Downes wrote in an email. ​“Our understanding of the bill before the legislature is that it would remove the department’s ability to take criminal records into account when licensing barbers and hairdressers.”

Recent public testimony on the bill before the legislature’s Public Health Committee was overwhelmingly in favor of removing the restrictions. Speakers argued that removing the restriction could decrease recidivism. (State lawmakers are also looking at ways to incentivize hiring people with criminal records with hopes that increased employment would further keep people from returning to prison.)

“We believe that if the state is truly invested in the rehabilitation of formerly incarcerated people, it should be aggressive in pursuing common sense policies that encourage financial stability for people who have already paid back their debt to society,” Dhrupad Nag of Connecticut Working Families wrote to the Public Health Committee. ​“Recidivism rates drops from 32 percent to 19 percent for those who become gainfully employed after they are released so it is incumbent on the state to remove high barriers to employment for the formerly incarcerated. This bill does so by giving ex-offenders greater access to occupations that coincide with common job-training programs offered in state prisons.

“This is even more important when taking into account the racial dynamics at play,” Nag added. ​“Removing these restrictions are critical in addressing extrajudicial consequences of a criminal conviction that are most frequently borne by black and hispanics ex-offenders. Only one third of black men with criminal convictions get a call back from jobs they applied to compared to one half of all people with criminal convictions.”

Connecticut restricts 30 occupational and professional licenses and certificates from people convicted of felonies, according to the Alliance for a Just Society, a left-leaning network of not-for-profits. Lawmakers in the Midwest, particularly Illinois, Nebraska and Kentucky, are looking at ways to reduce recidivism by removing restrictions to certain occupational licenses to further increase employment opportunities for people with criminal histories.

State corrections spokesman Andrius Banevicius said he was unaware of barriers to licensure for people training in some of the very programs offered in two prisons. He said the department is generally supportive of measures that could reduce recidivism.

“Employment is a key fact to success,” he said. He referred questions about licensure to the state Department of Public Health.

A Game Changer

Greg Simpkins knows a bit about not getting calls back and having doors closed in his face. Today, he’s the owner of Headz Up on Whalley Avenue, a seven-year old barber shop that employs 23 people.

The shop has given at least three other barbers the tools they needed to start their own businesses in the area. It also has allowed him to purchase homes, and allowed the barbers at his shop to do the same. If that weren’t enough, the barber shop enabled him to start a landscape business and a tire shop.

Before he started the shop, Simpkins said he was like so many other black, urban men with a criminal record. He was trying to turn his life around and coming up empty. He succeeded in receiving a pardon. That’s why he’s a proponent of ending any restrictions that keep people with criminal histories from pursuing licensing in barbering and cosmetology.

“It’s crazy, because as soon as you tell someone you’re an entrepreneur, the first thing they assume is that you own a barber shop or a beauty salon,” he said. ​“That’s the thing that most people think a black man is most capable of obtaining. But at the end of the day they try to block you from being legit as you can be. A lot of trades do that.”

As a result, Simpkins said, a lot of ​“freelance” barbers operate without a license, which is a big ​“no” in his book. ​“I think if they remove the restrictions they’ll get a lot more people following the rules and doing things the right way,” he said. But he does draw the line at opening the occupation license to those who have been convicted of sexual assault. because barbers and cosmetologists often work with children.

Removing any barriers for people who really have a passion for the work to obtain their license not only changes their lives, but their families’s lives and ultimately their community, Simpkins said.

Barbers who started out coming to work at the shop riding bikes now own cars, have started families and bought houses. The shop is known for hosting community events that recognize fathers, supporting literacy among children and giving out coats in the winter. And Simpkins said that all started because he was allowed to pursue his desire of running a business and serving the community.

“I remember the days when I was looking for a job and couldn’t get one,” he said. ​“I straightened my life out; I got a pardon. I don’t have any limits. I dream of something, and I chase it until I get it. I’m not taking no for an answer.”

His dream is to open a school for barbers specifically those operating without a license, but he said he would let them know that it’s not easy.

“But nothing that is good comes easy,” he said. ​“You might be eager at beginning but you have have to put in that work and grind. Once you do that you won’t have to scatter when the health department comes in and you don’t worry about another fine, or that someone can’t or won’t hire you.”

Smith-Holness echoed Simpkins’ hard-work mantra. She’s been a stylist for 26 years and has owned a salon for 24 of those years.

“It’s a beautiful profession,” Smith-Holness, who styles the coiffure of Mayor Toni Harp. ​“It looks glamorous, but you have to be willing to do the work.”

Following is a status report on bills of particular interest to New Haven before the state legislature this session:

The 2017 Agenda