The vision of Central Outreach and Advocacy Center is to be passionate advocates and invested partners for those experiencing homelessness.
At the OAC, this passionate advocacy means being a voice for our guests, whether that’s in the services our staff and volunteers provide every day, or a voice speaking on our guests’ behalf on a broader level, such as to state legislators or government agencies.
With the re-creation of the Advocacy Coordinator position this year, the advocacy of the OAC is taking on a variety of new forms, shaped completely by what our staff and volunteers are seeing daily in their interactions with guests.
Legislative Policy Advocacy
During the 2024 legislative session, our Center supported a number of bills as they progressed through the legislature. The Session ended with mixed results, however we’re pleased that some progress was made towards improving the everyday lives of our guests. Below is a recap of some of these bills.
BILLS THAT PASSED:
Housing Law Reform. One major success came in the form of landlord/tenant law reform with the passage of House Bill 404. This bill creates a requirement that housing be “fit for human habitation,” a basic standard not previously written into law. The bill also caps security deposits at 2 months’ rent and introduces a right to cure provision that allows a tenant three days to pay back due rent before eviction proceedings can be initiated. This bill provides extra protection for the OAC’s guests who are living on the verge of homelessness or are moving out of homelessness into housing. This bill is currently on the governor’s desk. Unless he vetoes the bill, it will become law on July 1, 2024.
Medicaid expansion. We had hoped that a bill enabling medicaid expansion in some form would be introduced this year. Instead, a small step in the right direction was made with House Bill 1339 which passed both the House and Senate and is currently on the governor’s desk. This bill, among other things, would create a Comprehensive Health Coverage Commission to study opportunities to close Georgia’s insurance coverage gap in the future. We’re hopeful that this Commission will have recommendations for Medicaid expansion for the 2025 legislative session.
BILLS THAT DID NOT PASS:
Removal of criminal justice barriers. Unfortunately a number of our guests have had some sort of interaction with the criminal justice system, whether that’s an arrest, a first offender sentence, or a criminal conviction. This sort of history can be detrimental for our guests, even years later, when trying to find housing and employment. Unfortunately, a number of beneficial reform bills made it close to passage this year, but did not quite make it into law. We remain hopeful that in 2025 these bills will be revived and pass through into law.
- House Bill 909 – would have made first offender law more thorough ensuring that court records are sealed completely at the time of sentencing so private background check agencies can’t find the records years later.
- The first offender law allows someone who is charged with their first criminal offense (or first felony) to complete a sentence without the charge ever becoming a conviction if they’re successful in completing the sentence. 98 percent of people who are sentenced as first offenders complete their sentences successfully and are able to honestly say they’ve never been convicted of a crime
- Status: Passed unanimously through the House on 2/13/24 and the Senate Judiciary committee on 3/18/24 but did not get a vote from the full Senate in time.
- Senate Bill 157 – would have eased the occupational licensing process for people with criminal histories and created more opportunities for criminal convictions to be expunged/cleared from records
- Status: Passed the Senate in 2023 and the House on the final day of the 2024 legislative session. However, because the bill was amended in the House, the Senate had to vote to agree to the House’s amendments. Unfortunately, SB 157 did not get the “agree” vote it needed in time.
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Advocacy to Departments and Agencies
There are also a number of roadblocks to the regular services provided by the OAC that our volunteers and staff are encountering daily, such as the limited identity documentation accepted by Department of Drivers Services (DDS) to get an identification card, or the long wait times to make appointments at the Social Security Administration (SSA). Because of these issues, a key focus of our advocacy work right now is building connections with the various agencies we send guests to regularly, especially the DDS and SSA. These relationships can help streamline and simplify the process when applying for guests’ documents. The same goes for building connections with the City of Atlanta to address on the ground issues that our guests are facing, such as minimal access to public restrooms in the downtown area. To support these efforts, we are reviving the advocacy committee, a group of individuals passionate about supporting the work of the OAC.
These are just a few of the projects our Advocacy Coordinator will be working on as we broaden the scope of our advocacy this year at the OAC. The beauty of this advocacy work is in its flexibility to address any issues our staff or guests face as they arise. If you have any questions, thoughts, or suggestions, feel free to reach out to our Advocacy Coordinator, Sarah Zimbardi, at [email protected].