People with criminal records need more employment opportunities

I recently attended a seminar about hiring convicted felons – now referred to as people with criminal records – put on by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Florida and the Big Bend A.F.T.E.R. Reentry Coalition. The purpose of the seminar was to make employers aware of all the opportunities available to those who are willing to hire people with criminal records. I learned so much at the seminar, and I want to pass it along.

We have a problem in this country. We have 5 percent of the world’s population but about 25 percent of the world’s prison population. The Bureau of Justice Statistics found that two-thirds of all prisoners released are rearrested within three years, and 60 percent of those are rearrested within the first year.

Given our large prison population and the high rate of recidivism combined with our need for quality workers, we need to do something to help people with criminal records find opportunities after release. This was the essence of the seminar I attended.

As I have mentioned in previous columns, I volunteer at the Gadsden Correctional Facility. For more than five years now, I have been teaching the women out there how to start their own businesses when they leave prison.

While doing this work, I have seen how many really good people get put in prison for doing stupid things. People with criminal records need jobs. They are willing to work. They just need opportunities to prove themselves.

There is a movement called “Ban the Box” that is working to persuade employers to remove the question asking if applicants have been arrested or convicted of a crime from their employment applications. I believe all employers should do this because this practice stops people with criminal records from progressing on the employment track. Now, I am not saying you should not ask if a person has ever been arrested or convicted of a crime. I am only saying it should not be part of the first screening process.

One challenge associated with hiring people with criminal records is that they cannot get bonded. However, there is assistance for this. The Feds have a program offered through the Department of Labor that provides and helps fund fidelity insurance bonds. Potential employers can save money on their taxes for hiring people with criminal records through the Work Opportunity Tax Credit.

Another challenge for employers interested in hiring people with criminal records is locating viable candidates. Clearly, they do not come out of incarceration wearing a sign that says, “Please hire me.” To find them, you must have a job fair or work with an organization that helps connect people with criminal records with employers. Here are a few that can help: Big Bend A.F.T.E.R. Reentry Coalition, bigbendreentry.org/; Kearney Center Reentry Services, (850) 792-9000; and The Living Harvest, (850) 491-8235. All of these are located in the Tallahassee area, but you can find similar agencies in other areas by calling your local jail and asking for contact information for re-entry coordinators.

Now go out and consider hiring people with criminal records. Give them the second chance we all have been given at some time in our lives.

You can do this!

This story was originally published August 11, 2016 at 11:56 AM with the headline "People with criminal records need more employment opportunities."