The Michigan Collaborative to End Mass Incarceration (MI-CEMI) needs your help today!!

Sign on today to support bills to help ensure that people returning from prison come home with the identification they need to get a job, open a bank account, or rent an apartment. For years we’ve been hearing from formerly incarcerated people, their families, and reentry service providers that too many people come home without vital documents such as a birth certificate, state ID, or social security card—essential paperwork to succeed in reentry. 

We’ve learned that bills strengthening requirements to provide these identification documents may be on the agenda for a hearing in the House Committee on Criminal Justice as soon as next week.

That’s why MI-CEMI is asking you to add your name to be included in their statement of support by Monday, March 20 at 4:00pm 

By signing on, you will allow us to show legislators the breadth of organizations and individuals who believe in the importance of this legislation. This package of bills, called the

Each bill in the Returning Citizens Initiative (or simply the vital documents bills) focuses on providing vital documents to help incarcerated individuals gain access to proper identification and paperwork prior to returning to our communities: 

• HB4191 – Driver’s license component of Returning Citizens Initiative.
• HB4192 – Michigan Department of Corrections code statute to require MDOC to provide IDs/licenses.
• HB4193 – State ID component of Returning Citizens Initiative.
• HB4194 – Technical bill to fix a reference to an updated statute.

The bills will allow incarcerated individuals to reenter and contribute to their communities immediately upon their release, reducing their chances of being reincarcerated. 

Please sign on today to show your support. Thank you for your partnership in ending mass incarceration in Michigan. 
If you need additional help or support with your submissions, please contact Chuck Warpehoski at chuckw@mi-cemi.org.