When hiring, give people with criminal records a second chance

"Once you're labeled a felon, the old forms of discrimination - employment discrimination, housing discrimination, denial of the right to vote, denial of educational opportunity, denial of food stamps and other public benefits, and exclusion from jury service - are suddenly legal." ~ Michelle Alexander

I recently attended a seminar about hiring convicted felons (now referred to as people with criminal records, or PCR) put on by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Florida and the Big Bend AFTER Reentry Coalition. The purpose of this seminar was to make employers aware of all the neat opportunities available to those who are willing to hire people with criminal records. I learned so much at this seminar I did not previously know, and I want to pass it along.

We have a problem in this country. We have five 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 PCR 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. PCR 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 PCR 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 PCR 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 PCRs through the Work Opportunity Tax Credit.

Another challenge for employers interested in hiring PCR is locating viable candidates. Clearly, PCR 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 PCR with employers. Here are a few that can help: Big Bend AFTER Reentry Coalition, http://www.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 PCR. Give them the second chance we all have been given at some time in our lives.

You can do this!

Dr. Osteryoung has directly has assisted over 3,000 firms. He is the Jim Moran Professor of Entrepreneurship (Emeritus) and Professor of Finance (Emeritus) at Florida State University. He was the founding Executive Director of The Jim Moran Institute and served in that position from 1995 through 2008. His newest book co-authored with Tim O'Brien, "If You Have Employees, You Really Need This Book," is a bestseller on Amazon.com. He can be reached by e-mail at jerry.osteryoung@gmail.com.

Tags: Florida Small Business