CORI: A Public Health Issue

Click here to watch the discussion on BUniverse.

A panel of experts discusses problems and possible reforms to the Massachusetts Criminal Offender Record Information system (CORI),which was created to streamline information sharing between lawenforcement agencies and prospective employers. Former criminaloffenders also share their personal experiences with the CORI system. Barbara Ferrer,executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission, begins withan introduction to CORI. She outlines some common problems with thesystem, including allegations that the records are confusing to thepoint of being misleading.

Hannibal Williams, son of community organizer Reverend Hannibal Williams, and Caroletta Shaw-Boyd talk about their personal experiences with the CORI system.

Panelists from a variety of public sectors and corporate arenas thencomment on CORI reforms. A question-and-answer session with the panelmembers follows.

Judith Bernstein,an SPH and MED associate professor, closes by wrapping up and puttingthe different perspectives into the context of public health.

July 30, 2008, 8:30 a.m.
670 Albany St. Auditorium

About the speakers:
Judith Bernstein is an associate professor of maternal and child health at the School of Public Health and of emergency medicine at the School of Medicine.A nurse and public health professional for 25 years, she has workedwith both inner-city and rural communities to develop comprehensiveintegrated approaches to women’s health. Her current research focuseson prevention strategies for adolescents, HIV/STD research, and“in-reach” — peer model interventions to bridge the cultural, language,and knowledge gaps between emergency department patients and providers.She is a member of the Committee on Ethics of the American College ofObstetricians and Gynecologists and the Ethics Committee on AdvancedCell Technology (therapeutic stem cell research). She has been chair ofboth the nursing and the mental health divisions of the Abstract ReviewCommittee of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine.

Tina Brooks is undersecretary of housing and community development at the Massachusetts Office of Housing and Economic Development.She has more than 18 years of experience in affordable housing financeand development, and works to expand affordable housing opportunities.Before joining the Patrick administration, she was the director of theBoston office of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, a programthat provides loans, grants, and technical assistance to spur thedevelopment of affordable housing, new business, recreationalfacilities, schools, safety programs, and other neighborhoodinstitutions. She also has worked in various capacities in the privatesector, including at GMAC and the Paramount Financial Group.

Wayne M. Burton became the president of North Shore Community Collegein July 2000, following seven years as dean of the School of Businessat Salem State College. The previous 23 years were spent in severalcapacities at the University of New Hampshire. He has served on theGovernor’s Regional Economic Development Committee in Massachusetts andas a director for the New Hampshire Port Authority. He served two termsin the New Hampshire House of Representatives; he was named Legislatorof the Year for his service on behalf of working men and women.

Andrea J. Cabralis the sheriff of Suffolk County, responsible for the operation of theSuffolk County House of Correction, the Suffolk County Jail, theSuffolk County Community Corrections Center, and the Civil ProcessDivision. During her 21-year career in public service, she has servedas the director of the Roxbury District Court Family Violence Project,the chief of the Domestic Violence Unit at the Suffolk County DistrictAttorney’s Office, the chief of District Courts and CommunityProsecutions and has overseen such programs as the Safe NeighborhoodInitiatives and the Prosecutor in Police Stations (PIPS) programs. Thesheriff’s department has more than 1,000 employees, comprisingcorrectional officers, criminal justice professionals, caseworkers, andadministrative staff.

Harold Coxis the associate dean for public health practice at the School ofPublic Health. He supervises the student practica program andacademic/community practice relationships. Prior to joining BostonUniversity, he was chief public health officer for Cambridge,Massachusetts, for 10 years. He currently chairs the statewidecommittee exploring regionalization as an approach for redesigning thecommonwealth’s local public health system. He is principal investigatorand director of PEER (Partnership for Effective Emergency Response), aregional emergency preparedness collaboration involving hospitals,public health departments, long-term care facilities, ambulanceservices, and community health centers in a Greater Boston area thatincludes 2.2 million people and 62 cities and towns. He is a member ofthe Massachusetts Legislative Commission on Health Disparities, theMassachusetts Public Health Council, and the Boston Public HealthCommission board. He is a past president of the Massachusetts PublicHealth Association.

Barbara Ferreris the executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission. Shemanages a $125 million budget and oversees 1,200 employees. In additionto operating public health programs, the commission provides oversightfor Boston Emergency Medical Services, several substance abusetreatment facilities, and the second largest homeless services programin New England. After being a high school principal in the BostonPublic Schools from 2004 to 2007, Ferrer returned to the commission,where she had been deputy director for six years, spearheading abroad-based and comprehensive campaign to reduce racial and ethnichealth disparities.

Rev. Hurmon E. Hamilton, Jr.,is the senior pastor of Roxbury Presbyterian Church USA. Since themid-1990s, he has served Roxbury and the greater Boston area as CEO ofthe RPC’s Social Impact Center and as a founding leader of the GreaterBoston Interfaith Organization (GBIO). The Social Impact Center seeksto use Christian faith as a tool for social transformation througheducational, technological, and counseling programs for families. In2004 Hamilton was elected GBIO president. GBIO has raised millions ofdollars to build affordable housing and has successfully and regularlyorganized its broad grassroots constituency across race, faith,geographical, and political lines to become an effective instrument ofpower in Massachusetts on issues ranging from education to health-carereform and its implementation.

Lisa Sullivanis the associate dean for education at the School of Public Health anda professor and chair of biostatistics. She has received numerousteaching awards, among them a Metcalf Award, the University’s highestteaching honor, and SPH’s Norman A. Scotch award for excellence inteaching. She is the principal investigator of the Summer Institute inBiostatistics, which is designed to promote interest in the field ofbiostatistics and its many career opportunities. In addition, she is astatistician on the Framingham Heart Study, working primarily indeveloping and disseminating cardiovascular risk functions. Hermultidisciplinary research includes a variety of projects incardiovascular disease, cognitive function, HIV/AIDS, emergencymedicine, prenatal diagnosis, and autism.

Aaron Tanaka is the executive director of the Boston Workers Alliance.He earned a B.A. in social studies at Harvard College. He interned atthe American Friends Service Committee’s Criminal Justice Program,working on prison reform issues to shut down long-term solitaryconfinement units in the Massachusetts Department of Corrections. Hehas worked in Washington, D.C., at an environmental lobby firm onanti-nuclear-power campaigns. He is a documentary videographer and amaster’s candidate in community economic development at Southern NewHampshire University.