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Prison Reform: A Course Correction
With prisons full and a tight state budget, Florida business leaders are pushing reform as a matter of efficiency -- and public safety.
Ready to Work
As President Obama campaigned in Jacksonville last summer, Kevin Gay challenged him: “What if I told you I could save you $30 billion in your first year of office?” Obama listened as Gay explained how 1,000 former inmates in his Operation New Hope and its employment arm, Ready4Work, had a 5% recidivism rate, compared to the countywide rate of 54%. “We’ve been successful because we’ve figured out what the issue is,” says Gay, whom Obama tapped for his transition team on the Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships Council. “The issue is not bad people — the issue is poverty.”
Operation New Hope has garnered strong support from Jacksonville’s business community. The project, which has become something of a human resources department for businesses, offers job training, background checks, drug testing and the like. Businesses report a 65% retention rate for New Hope employees.
The Jacksonville City Council passed an ordinance requiring the city and its contractors to provide “full and fair consideration” to qualified ex-offenders and has made incentives available to private businesses that hire former inmates. “The incentives part is icing on the cake,” Gay says. “What employers mainly want to know is whether the employee is reliable, on time, dressed properly and has the right attitude. That’s just what we’re bringing them — we’re bringing them someone ready to work.”
