CENTER ON JUVENILE AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE PRESS ROOM
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FAVOR Calls for Stories of Students Affected by the Higher Education Act

FOR RELEASE: February 17, 2004

Momentum Building for Repeal of Ban on Federal Financial Aid to Individuals with Drug Convictions

We need to hear from you about what the ban has meant to the recovery community

CONTACT: Action Alert Faces and Voices of Recovery
1010 Vermont Ave. NW #708
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202-737-0690

In 1998 Congress amended the Higher Education Act to delay or deny federal financial aid to students with drug convictions. Since then over 124,000 students have either been denied financial aid or stopped applying for aid because they thought they were ineligible according to the U.S. Department of Education. Congress is seriously considering a number of proposals to repeal or modify the ban.

Among the tens of thousands of students who are not receiving aid are many in recovery, wanting to get a new start on their lives. This federal law punishes people in recovery who want to better their lives and enter the mainstream of society.

As part of our campaign to restore the right of students to receive federal financial aid for higher education, we are collecting information on the experiences of:

· students who have been denied aid because of a drug conviction

· students who have not applied for aid because of the question on the federal financial aid application form

· parents whose children have been unable to attend community college or university because they were denied or didn't apply for federal financial aid

WE WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU SO THAT WE CAN INFORM POLICYMAKERS AND THE MEDIA about the damage that the ban on federal financial aid for individuals with drug convictions is doing. If you or someone you know has been affected by the ban, please call Pat Taylor at 202-737-0690 or email pat.taylor@verizon.net.

Faces & Voices of Recovery is working to mobilize, organize and rally the families, friends and allies of the millions of Americans in recovery from addiction in a campaign to end discrimination, broaden social understanding and achieve a just response to addiction as a public health crisis.

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