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Bipartisan legislators hope to reduce list of barrier crimes for school employees

Peer recovery specialist and formerly incarcerated community advocate D’Archie Lewis speaks before a Virginia House Education subcommittee.
Virginia House of Delegates video feed
Peer recovery specialist and formerly incarcerated community advocate D’Archie Lewis speaks before a Virginia House Education subcommittee.

Virginia has long limited the ability of some formerly incarcerated people to hold certain jobs. But as the workforce shortage grows and those who once engaged in bad behavior mature, elected officials from both parties are looking to open up new pathways for employment.

D’Archie Lewis is a certified peer recovery specialist. Formerly incarcerated for armed robbery years ago, he’s since been pardoned by Governor Glenn Youngkin and was appointed to the governor’s Corrections Oversight Commission. But he can’t get a job in a state public school, using those experiences to help kids avoid his path, because:

“I was informed, even though I had a pardon, certain crimes I had been pardoned from are considered barrier crimes thus preventing them from working with the children and helping in the school system.” Lewis told the committee.

That’s Lewis at Tuesday morning's Virginia House K through 12 education subcommittee. He was speaking in favor of Democratic Delegate Jeion Ward’s bill that would roll back some of the barrier crimes. The bill removes existing broad limitations and replaces them with crimes against children among other edits. It also requires a pardon from the governor before they can be employed.

Republican Delegate Carrie Coyner was among the enthusiastic supporters of the effort. She passed out letters from school officials, sheriffs and others who argue the best people to help kids on a bad path is to learn from those who did the same but turned their lives around.

“We need those men in our community as role models for the next generation to not walk that same path and make the same mistakes,” Coyner told the committee.

The bill was advanced unanimously to full committee. As for Youngkin’s future support of the bill, he did sign some bills reducing barrier crimes for substance abuse care and mental health services last session.

This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.

Brad Kutner is Radio IQ's reporter in Richmond.