Column: Ban the Box, Hire Fairly
In the final installment of The Washtenaw Jail Diary, the former inmate writes: “What I would do after my release, I had no idea. Who would hire a convicted felon in a lousy economy?”
Typical felony box on an employment application.
The fact is, not many employers will. And that has an impact on the likelihood that former prisoners will find their way back into the corrections system.
In 2008, approximately 12,500 citizens returned from prison to the communities of Michigan. Within two years, nearly half of them will return to prison.
And research by the Justice Policy Center at The Urban Institute has shown that a principal factor in such high recidivism is a lack of employment opportunities. It is not a lack of adequate qualifications, but rather the social stigma surrounding a felony conviction that prevents many ex-prisoners from landing a job – and the lack of a job that leads them to offend again.
Social service programs can assist ex-offenders in finding housing, accessing mental/physical health treatment, and job-readiness training.
However, it is employers who must ultimately step up and give all qualified individuals a fair opportunity for jobs, if ex-prisoners are to have a fair chance to become stable providers for themselves and their families.
One way to ensure a fair shot is to prohibit discrimination based on criminal history – by banning that box on application forms that requires applicants to check it if they’ve been convicted of a crime. [Full Story]