Legal Barriers to Work
Rubicon’s Workforce-Legal Services program integrates legal services with Rubicon’s comprehensive employment services in West Contra Costa County. A large percentage of West County residents accessing these employment services face multiple, challenging barriers to employment: a history of incarceration, debt and financial illiteracy, homelessness, disability, and for non-custodial parents, child support obligations and arrearages. For many of these individuals, successfully entering and sustaining employment requires that these barriers be addressed. We work in coordination with each individual’s career coach to identify barriers and provide the legal interventions necessary to remove or reduce them. Legal service needs cover a broad range of issues, with some of the most critical arising from the collateral consequences of a criminal history, including the need for assistance with post conviction remedies (e.g., expungements, certificates of rehabilitation), clearing outstanding warrants and infractions, and clearing driving records. Consumer credit repair, fair debt collection practices, housing issues and child support modifications are other common needs we address.
Workforce-Legal Partnership Services include:
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Legal check-ups to identify issues before they prevent or hinder employment;
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“Clean Slate” services for participants with qualifying criminal or arrest records, for example, counsel and advice on obtaining expungements of qualifying criminal convictions under Penal Code Section 1203.4 and 17(b);
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Assistance with debt and other barriers to financial stability, housing or other issues when these interfere with the client’s ability to gain or keep employment;
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Pre-employment legal counseling regarding issues such as disclosure of disability, workplace accommodation, discrimination and other workplace rights and expectations;
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Advice, referral or assistance related to suspended California driver’s licenses;
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Weekly case management meetings with Rubicon’s Career Coaches to address barrier removal and the job preparation progress;
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Development of a curriculum and trainings to educate Rubicon’s Career Coaches on issue-spotting of significant legal barriers to employment, which are not usually addressed by Workforce Development agencies
Service Eligibility
Any individual actively engaged in Rubicon’s employment services programs in West Contra Costa County is potentially eligible for these services. The client must be referred by his or her Career Coach at Rubicon.
