by Suzanne Potter, Producer
Starting October 1st, it will get a lot easier for people with old felony convictions to get them expunged from their record – as Senate Bill 731, passed two years ago, is fully implemented. Before, only records from 2005 or later could be cleared, but now the law covers records from as far back as 1973.
Saun Hough, vocational services administrator with the nonprofit Shields for Families in South L.A., said this is significant.
“It’s estimated that an additional 4.5 million people will have felony records that are now eligible for expungement,” Hough explained.
Advocates of criminal justice reform spoke out in Sacramento on Wednesday to raise awareness as part of the Time Done Day of Advocacy. The law also allows petitions for expungement to be filed at your local courthouse, and the state Department of Justice will start conducting automated petitions. A website called expungemyrecord.org just launched this week to help people navigate the process.
Hough said clearing the criminal record of old convictions can vastly improve a person’s chances of getting a job, renting an apartment, obtaining a professional license, and much more.
“It allows for the opportunity to coach your children’s team literally, it allows for the opportunity to be members of your HOA board. it just really allows for full participation back into society and into your community,” Hough continued.
People can petition to have many types of non-sexual felony convictions expunged two years after completing any parole or probation as long as they have no new offenses.
California faces a big shortage in the health care workforce, so health centers in San Diego are taking matters into their own hands, launching a training program for medical assistants.
The Laura Rodriguez Medical Assistant Institute, part of the Family Health Centers of San Diego, has graduated dozens of new medical assistants since January of last year.
Pauline Lucatero, chief academic administrator for the institute, said multiple factors led to the shortage.
“This is just due to the aging population and retirement,” Lucatero observed. “I also believe that trying to recover back from COVID, we lost a lot of professionals.”
The program recruits students from the community. In fact, 65% of its graduates started out as a patient of the health centers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projected jobs for medical assistants would grow 14% from 2022 to 2032. The training program was made possible by a $450,000 grant from the nonprofit Direct Relief.
The program costs about $7,200. Students can get a loan, which can be forgiven if they work for Family Health Centers of San Diego for three years. Students can do the training in four and a half months full-time or eight months part-time. The next full-time class starts Oct. 7.
