Pontiac, Michigan – Oakland County is launching a multi-faceted marketing campaign called “One by One” to promote the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines the same week the county expects providers to administer the one millionth dose. The campaign will emphasize how One by One we get stronger, we get healthier, we get back to business, we come together as a community. The call-to-action encourages Oakland County residents to do their part to help stop the pandemic by signing up to Save Your Spot and receive their COVID-19 vaccine through OaklandCountyVaccine.com.

To promote community involvement, all individuals featured in the campaign, which will include television, radio, print, and social media ads, are residents of Oakland County. This campaign speaks to all audiences and residents throughout Oakland County with efforts focused on targeting vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations through smaller, targeted clinics that bring the vaccine into neighborhoods and communities One by one, as our residents get vaccinated, we take steps to stop this pandemic.

Meanwhile, Oakland County Health Division will conduct 12 COVID-19 vaccination clinics by appointment only the week of Tuesday, April 27 – Monday, May 3 in the following communities: Ferndale, Hazel Park, Holly, Lake Orion, Pontiac, Rochester, Royal Oak Township, Troy, Waterford, and West Bloomfield. The county also is redistributing vaccine to 39 providers this week.

The State of Michigan distributed 28,760 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Oakland County Health Division this week, including 2,340 Pfizer doses from FEMA. The Health Division will administer the FEMA doses, provided as part of the establishment of Ford Field as a regional vaccination site, to residents who live in areas with a higher Social Vulnerability Index.

Here is the breakdown by manufacturer, excluding the FEMA doses:

MANUFACTURER

Johnson & Johnson
 

Moderna

Pfizer

Oakland County Health Division has had 4,500 Johnson & Johnson doses on hand since federal agencies temporarily recommend a pause on using the vaccine. After the federal agencies determined the vaccine was safe and its benefits far outweigh any rare instances of risk, Oakland County Health Division resumed utilizing the Johnson & Johnson doses. The Health Division will be distributing doses to other providers who indicated interest in administering a single-dose vaccine. Plus, it will utilize the doses for homebound seniors.

The following is an update on progress vaccinating Oakland County residents, according to the State of Michigan COVID-19 Vaccine Dashboard as of April 25, 2021:

Total eligible residents: 1,029,737

• Number of residents who have received first dose: 582,147
• Number of residents who have completed vaccination: 411,301
• Vaccine coverage: 56.5%
• Total eligible senior residents 65 and older: 217,676
• Number of senior residents who have received first dose: 168,737
• Number of senior residents who have completed vaccination: 150,289
• Vaccine coverage for senior residents: 77.5%

Total doses distributed by state within Oakland County: 978,335

• Total doses administered within Oakland County: 968,875
• Percentage of doses administered within Oakland County: 99.0%

​Waterford, Michigan – Oakland County and its Michigan Works! agency launched a new program today that enables county residents with criminal convictions to have specific offenses expunged from their public record, opening the door to find better jobs, housing and educational opportunities.

The Oakland County Clean Slate Program provides free legal assistance to eligible individuals seeking expungement. To start the process, individuals should complete an online Request for Services at www.oakgov.com/cleanslate. After this information is submitted, a program representative will contact the person with more details on their eligibility.

“This program clearly has the potential to help some of our residents pursue full time employment without the worry of being turned away because of past mistakes,” said Oakland County Executive David Coulter. “Clean Slate is a win-win for both our returning residents and employers, who were already facing a shortage of people to hire before the COVID-19 hit the county last year. That scarcity of workers has only been exacerbated by the pandemic.”

Statewide only 6.5 percent of eligible residents take advantage of the expungement process, according to a 2019 University of Michigan report, “Expungement of Criminal Convictions: An Empirical Study.”

The lack of participation in the expungement process, according to the study, is due to a shortage of information on how it works, time constraints, costs, a general distrust in the criminal justice system and lack of legal counsel. Those who complete the expungement process, however, earn an average 25 percent increase in wages within two years.

The Oakland County Clean Slate Program is being funded through a $314,500 allocation from the state of Michigan. A total of $4 million is being awarded to all 16 Michigan Works! agencies throughout the state. These funds cover staff time, documentation and court fees associated with the expungement process. The program is currently scheduled to run through June 2022.

Program eligibility details:

• Up to three felony convictions may be expunged after seven years (only two may be for assaultive crimes and no more than one felony conviction for the same offense if the offense is punishable by more than 10 years imprisonment).
• An unlimited number of misdemeanor convictions may be expunged after three years.
• Serious misdemeanors and one felony conviction may be expunged after five years.
• Various traffic offenses may be expunged.
• A person can petition to set aside misdemeanor marijuana offenses if they would not have been a crime after recreational use was legalized.
• Multiple felonies or misdemeanors arising from the same 24-hour period are treated as one conviction for the purposes of expungement (none of the offenses can be assaultive, involve the use or possession of a dangerous weapon, or carry a maximum penalty of 10 or more years in prison).

Convictions that cannot be expunged from a criminal record include:

• Felonies that carry a maximum punishment of life in prison
• Attempt to commit a felony for which the maximum punishment is life
• Felony domestic violence (if the person had a previous domestic violence misdemeanor)
• Child abuse
• Most criminal sexual conduct offenses
• DUI and traffic offenses causing injury or death

The Clean Slate Initiative is a national bipartisan coalition advancing policies to automatically clear all eligible criminal records across the United States. It reports one in three Americans has a criminal record, which can include misdemeanors. Nearly 90 percent of employers conduct background checks and some industries bar hiring individuals with criminal convictions. The exclusion of this segment of the population in the workforce costs the U.S. economy an estimate $87 billion annually in lost GDP, according to the organization.

“We’re so excited to be launching this program, which we expect will truly have a positive impact on so many people and employers,” said Jennifer Llewellyn, director, Oakland County Michigan Works! “Expunging certain felonies and misdemeanors provides new career opportunities for people but also has a significant impact on the size of the labor market and pool of job candidates available to employers in Oakland County and across Southeast Michigan.”

Oakland County Michigan Works! operates service centers in Novi, Oak Park, Pontiac, Southfield, Troy, and Waterford. Combined, they assist more than 105,000 job seekers annually. Services include career coaching, interviewing and job search workshops, placement assistance, training courses and job trend information.

The service centers also assist more than 3,000 employers seeking help with talent recruitment, apprenticeship programs, job fairs, candidate pre-screening, hiring, and training support, layoff support and labor market data.

Service center staffs remain available by virtual appointment to work one-on-one with job seekers to build their resumes, prepare for job interviews and help address other needs. To schedule a virtual meeting, call 1-248-858-5520 and select the office nearest to you.

The service centers are hosting several virtual workshops for job seekers. A schedule can be found at OaklandCountyMIWorks.com.