Pablo Sepúlveda Rodríguez, a Villa Palmeras (San Juan) resident who spent six months in jail 15 years ago without ever being convicted, described being told by the Department of Correction and Rehabilitation that he would have to travel to Mayagüez to obtain documents needed to move, until a social worker intervened. Edwin Otero Cuevas, director of Program Development and Planning at La Fondita de Jesús, cited the case to question why accessing one’s own records remains an obstacle for someone reintegrated into the community.
To address such barriers, La Fondita de Jesús petitioned for House Bill 1413, which has support from all party delegations. The bill amends Law 130-2007, which created the Multisectoral Council in Support of the Homeless Population, to strengthen interagency and multisectoral public policy on homeless services. It aims to ease recovery of essential documents like birth certificates and IDs needed for employment, housing, and health care, and to expand participation of community organizations and people who have experienced homelessness within the Multisectoral Council.