BIG NEWS💥💥💥: The DRUG CONVICTION QUESTION is officially being ELIMINATED from the federal student aid form known as the FAFSA as part of the massive year-end package that Congress is rushing to pass. For two decades, the Dept of Education included the drug Q on the FAFSA.. 1/
...The question asked student applicants about a past drug conviction. Those who answered yes could lose eligibility for ALL forms of student aid including Pell and work study. The question was narrowed in 2016 to only apply to a drug conviction that occurred while a student...2/
...was receiving student aid. The original penalty imposed by Congress in 1998 applied to any drug conviction in the past. But even the narrowed penalty has inflicted immeasurable harm. The penalty only penalizes students who NEED aid to access higher education, it only... 3/
...punishes students who lack the resources to pursue higher education increasingly critical to employment and economic security. The penalty disproportionately harmed Black and Brown people, we know, as communities of color are the focus of the war on drugs.. 4/
...Statistically no more likely to use drugs but Black and Brown people targeted by drug enforcement and convicted which triggers destructive collateral consequences such as this penalty. Appallingly those students who answered the question HONESTLY or left it blank were... 5/
...penalized by having their student aid stripped. We also know anecdotally that just the mere PRESENCE of the question on the FAFSA deterred many students from even applying for aid. Students incorrectly thought they were ineligible or found the hellish question & worksheet.. 6/
...confusing. The Dept of Education has included the drug conviction question (#23) on the FAFSA because of the Aid Elimination Penalty. This is the underlying law imposed by Congress in 1998 and narrowed in 2006 that renders students ineligible for student aid when they are.. 7/
...convicted of a drug law violation while they were receiving federal student aid. So to recap the FAFSA drug question and Aid Elimination Penalty only hurt students who relied on federal aid to access and complete higher education, it didn’t hurt affluent students, it ... 8/
... denied aid disproportionately to Black & Brown students targeted by the drug war & it derailed futures for many aid applicants. Repealing the Aid Elimination Penalty & striking Question 23 on the FAFSA has been a long time coming and there are many people & orgs to thank.. 9/
... first @ssdpglobal for years of mobilizing students and securing the 2006 win that narrowed the penalty, and @stopthedrugwar for convening and leading an active coalition in the 2000s whose members were called on over the past two years to finally get this repealed... 10/
... a big shout out to @tomangell who burned serious shoe (faux) leather to secure the 2006 narrowing victory and for who I know this issue has been an important one since. There were many other people who worked those early years... 11/
This wouldn’t have gotten done without advocacy from people directly impacted by legal barriers such as this to higher education. Special thanks to @Prof_Andrisse and @UnlockHigherEd at critical junctures in this campaign against Question 23 ... /12
...A special shout out to @FICGN & @mr_bl0unt & @noelvest for all hard work. A thank you to @jennycollierjd for all guidance and wisdom over the years on this issue. @DrugPolicyOrg has been working for many years along with ... /13
...many others to get this done. In 2018, I was ramping up a renewed effort to prioritize repeal of this penalty as part of reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. It was around that time that @jroseyyy then at @ccf_ny approached me about joining forces to ... 14/
... advance repeal of Question 23 AND Pell reinstatement for incarcerated students. A big shout out to @ccf_ny friends and fierce advocates @IGilestra @AngelTTueros who were there these past two years fighting for this & bringing perspectives of lived experience to the hill ..15/
... and to @ccf_ny friends and colleagues @StephanieBazell @TimothyRyanWard & @BAShanahan1, together with @IGilestra and @Vivian_Nixon_WW make an unstoppable team and by removing this barrier are furthering the work of empowering through education people harmed by ... /16
... the carceral system to be able to work towards dismantling it. In all my days at @DrugPolicyOrg this has been a personal career goal to light a match to this abhorrent penalty and that goal has been reached. The strategy conceived two years ago to take this down ... 17/
...ultimately worked. That strategy centered the advocacy and voices of people directly impacted by the criminal legal system and denied opportunity and improved quality of life because of legal barriers to higher education like Question 23 and the Aid Elimination Penalty ... 18/
I want to thank @kathryngimborys and her colleagues Michael and Julie, at @IHEPTweets for all of their advocacy on this, including working to ensure this was raised at a recent hearing by @jscottclayton and other critical voices... /19
...Thanks to @GrandmaCheesy77 formerly with IHEP now head of @SCEA_Inc_CT and to @SatraFierce and @TiffanyJonesPhD with @EdTrust and @BradleyDeanC with @amprog for all of your hard work over the years ... /20
... This repeal would not have happened if not for people with lived experience providing leadership and direct advocacy on the hill. This is an issue of racial & economic equity. #EquityIsJustice Again who has been impacted by this penalty?! There is much more work to do ... /21
...I am missing people in this and I apologize for those not named. Last but not least I want to sincerely thank @BobbyScott @SenAlexander @PattyMurray @RepKarenBass @SenBrianSchatz & other lawmakers & their staff who pushed to get this done as part of this package. THANK YOU!!
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