• LAC State Policy Director Tracie M. Gardner testified before the Joint Public Hearing on Public Protection this week to present the recommendations of the NY ATI/Reentry Coalition. Read the full recommendations here, or see video of the hearing.
• The New York Observer is featuring a profile of LAC Board Member Doug Liman in anticipation of his new show on MTV.

• "Your New York State Rap Sheet: A guide to getting, understanding, and correcting your criminal record": Tells you how to get a copy of your criminal record and how to correct any mistakes in it. It also explains how and what information employers get about your record and when they can get it. (Pictured at left.)
• "Lowering Criminal Record Barriers: Certificates of Relief/Good Conduct and record sealing": Explains which cases are eligible to be sealed and how to seal them. It also explains who is eligible for a Certificate of Relief from Disabilities or a Certificate of Good Conduct, which can improve your chances of getting a job or housing, as well as how to apply for these Certificates.
• "Criminal Records and Employment: Protecting yourself from discrimination": A guide to what New York employers may and may not ask about your criminal record, how you should describe your record, and what rights you have to be free of job discrimination because of your record.

• In a significant move forward for HIV prevention in New York City, Mayor Bloomberg announced that his new Young Men's Initiative would include a mandate for a semester of sex education in city schools. Follow this link to read the full statement applauding this news from our WISH-NY project and its partner, the Young Women of Color HIV/AIDS Coalition (YWCHAC).
• National Policy Director Gabrielle de la Gueronniere is quoted in the Aug. 15 issue of Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly on the critical need for a robust mental health/substance use disorder benefit as part of the essential health benefit mandated by healthcare reform.

• If you haven't seen it yet, check out the latest issue of The Fortune News, which features an article by our own Tracie M. Gardner, director of state policy, on the history and impact of ATI programs in New York.
• We joined fellow advocates for people living with HIV/AIDS in expressing dismay at this week's inappropriate media speculation about the possible HIV status of the accuser in the sexual assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund. Follow this link to read our full press release on the issue, now updated with the statements of others in the field.

• In the latest news on implementing federal health care reform in New York, Governor David Paterson named 37 organizations to the Health Care Reform Advisory Committee, which will provide input during the process. The committee includes organizations representing health care providers, consumers, businesses, organized labor, local governments, health plans and health insurers, and health policy experts.

• Visiting an addiction treatment facility in Baltimore last week, the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Gil Kerlikowske, stressed the importance of prevention and treatment, which are cornerstones in ONDCP's new drug strategy.
• In New Hampshire, a shortage of addiction treatment programs is delaying the efforts of many inmates trying to earn parole.
• In the wake of a column in The Washington Post questioning the use of addiction rehabilitation programs and recovery groups like Alcoholics Anonymous, the editorial page editor of The Roanoke Times wrote a spirited defense of AA.

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