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ILLINOIS HOUSE VOTES TO
REFORM HEALTH CARE LICENSING FOR EX-OFFENDERS
Illinois Policy Institute
If Gov.
Bruce Rauner signs SB 42, ex-offenders would gain the chance to prove
their rehabilitation and earn the right to work in medical occupations.
The Illinois House voted May 26 to pass Senate Bill 42, a bill that
would allow those with certain felony convictions, such as burglary, to
apply to work in health care professions after a post-conviction waiting
period. It now goes to Gov. Bruce Rauner’s desk for final approval.
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 The health care worker license is required for anyone who wants to work as a
nurse in Illinois. If the governor signs the SB 42 into law, applicants with
felony records would be allowed to apply for this license after waiting either
five years from the date of their after conviction or three years after being
released from prison, whichever length of time is greater.
While it opens up opportunity, SB 42 also maintains strict limits on acquiring a
health care license that protect public safety. For example, anyone convicted of
a felony requiring registration under the Sex Offender Registration Act is
ineligible, even after a waiting period.
Additionally, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation
would still have discretion to reject an application if the applicant has not
demonstrated he or she is fully rehabilitated. After an ex-offender’s
application is received, the licensing board will consider factors such as the
seriousness of the offense, whether the applicant has a history of criminal
behavior, whether restitution was made to a victim, and signs of rehabilitation
before deciding whether to grant the application.
Though it’s not perfect, SB 42 is a step in the right direction, and would be a
significant and positive change for real people like Lisa Creason.
Creason, a mother of three, made mistakes earlier in life, but turned things
around. Over 20 years ago, at the age of 19, Creason tried to steal money from a
Subway cash register so she could feed her daughter. She was charged with a
forcible felony and served a year in prison for her crime.
Since then, however, she’s put herself on the right track. She started a
nonprofit to fight youth violence in Decatur, Ill. She went back to school and
completed a nursing degree while raising her children and working as a certified
nursing assistant, or CNA. Her goal was to become a registered nurse, which
would allow her to advance in a career she loves and afford a better life for
her children.
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 The current licensing law denies Lisa and others like her from
even being considered for a health care license. As a result, she’s
stuck in a lower paying occupation and is stuck on government
assistance.
But SB 42 would give Creason and others with records a chance to do
the work they were trained for.
Each year, over 30,000 people leave Illinois prisons. About 48
percent return within three years.
One major reason for the high recidivism rate is a lack of
employment. Without work, former offenders are likelier to resort to
crime to make ends meet, perpetuating a cycle of incarceration.
Survey data have suggested that as many as 60 to 75 percent of
former offenders are unemployed a year after their release.
Employment makes a real difference. A study by the nonpartisan Urban
Institute found that former offenders employed within two months of
release were less likely to be incarcerated a year later. Studies by
the Safer Foundation showed Illinois ex-offenders who are employed a
year after release can have a recidivism rate as low as 16 percent.
But when government makes it excessively difficult for ex-offenders
to find work through bans on licensing, it exacerbates the problems
ex-offenders have reintegrating into society and becoming
self-sufficient. People with criminal records may or must be denied
at least 118 professional and business licenses, which make it less
likely they’ll be able to support themselves and their families.
That’s why the state needs reforms, like those in SB 42, that make
employment possible.
The more people who have access to work and employment, the less
money taxpayers will have to spend on Illinois’ corrections system,
and the safer Illinois’ streets will be. Expanding economic
opportunity through licensing reform is a common-sense way to
improve public safety and advance economic growth.
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