Incarceration to Incorporation: Economic Empowerment for Returning Citizens through Social Impact Bonds

25 ABA Journal of Affordable Housing & Community Development Law 61 (2016)

24 Pages Posted: 11 Mar 2020 Last revised: 10 Apr 2020

See all articles by Etienne C. Toussaint

Etienne C. Toussaint

University of South Carolina School of Law

Date Written: December 1, 2016

Abstract

This Article builds upon an ongoing community economic development (CED) action research project at The George Washington Law School Small Business and Community Economic Development Clinic that explores progressive strategies to economical empower formerly incarcerated individuals as they return home from prison. Formerly incarcerated individuals in America — appropriately called “returning citizens” but more frequently labeled “ex-felons” — are shackled with the stigma of their prison record long after serving time behind bars, a stigma that impairs their civil rights and limits their prospects for economic prosperity in the job market. This Article discusses recent legislation in the District of Columbia that promotes economic empowerment for returning citizens, the D.C. Incarceration to Incorporation Entrepreneurship Program (IIEP) Act of 2015. One of the critical challenges facing the D.C. IIEP Act is a lack of funding for program implementation. Accordingly, the Article follows by exploring whether the social impact bond model of impact investing can turn the tide and help reduce returning citizen recidivism.

This Article was drafted as part of a symposium — Lessons from Baltimore and Washington, D.C.: Working with Community-Based Organizations to Build Capacity and Fight for Economic Justice — held at the Association of American Law Schools Conference on Clinical Legal Education, April 30–May 3, 2016, in Baltimore, Maryland. The conference theme, “Clinics and Communities: Exploring Community Engagement Through Clinical Education,” was a platform for examining “the role of law and lawyers in aggravating or alleviating suffering, and in collaborating on legal efforts to build communities’ strengths and address harms experienced by those who seek their assistance.”

Keywords: economic empowerment, returning citizens, entrepreneurship, district of columbia, social impact bonds, impact investing

Suggested Citation

Toussaint, Etienne, Incarceration to Incorporation: Economic Empowerment for Returning Citizens through Social Impact Bonds (December 1, 2016). 25 ABA Journal of Affordable Housing & Community Development Law 61 (2016), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3534091

Etienne Toussaint (Contact Author)

University of South Carolina School of Law ( email )

1525 Senate Street
Columbia, SC 29208
United States

HOME PAGE: http://https://shorturl.at/btCH7

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