Lasherica Thornton ’s article in the Jackson Sun brings one of the most important issues to our attention when it comes to the employment of formerly incarcerated individuals: lack of re-entry programs that aim to reduce recidivism. However, there are more and more initiatives, such as the Phase II program in Jackson, Tennessee. Lack of re-entry programs in less populated areas Formerly incarcerated people have an extremely difficult time reentering the community after bein

Statistics that can't be ignored “States and the federal government spend $48 billion annually on prisons, and the prison investments are growing faster than state investment in colleges and universities”. Moreover, “an estimated $87 billion in gross domestic product is lost to the U.S. economy each year because of incarceration. And yet more than half of the 600,000 people released from prisons and jails every year will end up back behind bars. The biggest factor? They can’t

(original article can be found at the Koch Newsroom: https://news.kochind.com/news/2021/second-chance-hiring-a-look-inside-koch ) In February 2020, Koch Industries developed and deployed the "Creating Second Chances" strategy, which guides Koch companies in making a concerted effort to recruit and hire formerly incarcerated people. These former inmates total 9% of the U.S. population. The strategy is rooted in the belief that everyone in society wins when individuals are affo

The need for fair-chance employment is growing, and so are we! Honest Jobs is opening a new location in Denver, Colorado. We're excited for the opportunity to work with local community organizations and fair-chance employers to help Coloradans impacted by the criminal justice system find jobs fast! Our roots will stay in Ohio, but we can't wait to grow in the Mile High City (as soon as we can adjust to the altitude)!

Erin from Columbus, Ohio, found a job with JS Products within just two days of creating her profile on Honest Jobs, despite her felony conviction record. Watch below to learn more about her experience using the Honest Jobs platform.

Quwante's violent felony record made finding a job very difficult. He had written off the hope of landing a job that used his degree in architecture...until he found Honest Jobs! He applied for a crate building position with one of our second-chance employers, Wasserstrom , but when they realized he had a background in drafting, they hired him as a Layout Designer! Learn more about his experience in the video below:

“I didn’t want that temptation, didn’t want people coming in with different motivations,” says Kreutz. “I just didn’t want that voice in the room. I wanted us to be able to control our destiny and sink or swim because we do what we do.” - Matt Kreutz Owner of Firebrand Artisan Breads, Matt Kreutz, has been working in bakeries since he was 14. He started the company in 2008 in a West Oakland warehouse with only 4 employees. By 2017 the company had grown from 12 to 55 employee

"We live in a system today where we use money as the sole determining factor in determining whether somebody is going to be in jail or out of jail. Using money instead of risk is clearly not what we want to do." - Sharone Mitchell, director of the Illinois Justice Project The long-standing act of bail as we know it may be coming to an end with the introduction of new legislation that would ban the use of cash bonds. Illinois would be the first state to end a system of wealth-

“There is a broad consensus in this country that people who commit crimes — non-violent offenses — because of the fact that they’re an addict, we all want to see them succeed. We want them to get clean, stay clean and be good members of society,” - Ohio Governor Mike DeWine Governor Mike Dewine has signed a new bill aimed at giving Ohioans a second chance. House Bill 1 , scheduled to go into effect later this year, includes changes that allow people dealing with addiction th

“Northern Correctional Institute is a relic of the dark and barbaric ‘tough-on-crime era’ that was literally built to feel like the walls were caving in. It stood in contrast to all the progress we have made in this state to be ‘smart on crime’ and invest in rehabilitation and reentry.” - Representative Steve Stafstrom The Northern Correctional Institution, a supermax prison in Connecticut, will close this summer due to its lowest prison population in 32 years. The number of

San Francisco-based home goods and furniture designer, Formr , has two goals: reducing construction waste and recidivism. The US generates over 500 million tons of construction debris each year, much of which is sent to landfills. Formr partners with contractors to source materials from job site construction debris. These reclaimed items make up the raw material used in their unique and functional designs. To transform the construction waste into final products, Formr hires f

Earlier this month, Senate Bill 1480 , part of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus’ package of legislation to root out systemic racism, passed the House and Senate and now requires only a signature from Governor J.B. Pritzker to become law. The bill would make it a civil-rights violation for an employer to refuse employment based on a conviction record unless there is a “substantial relationship” between the offenses and the position the individual is seeking. Employers wou

Midtown Laundry in Holly Hill, FL, offers quality residential and commercial laundry services and is committed to employing formerly incarcerated individuals. ​ Founder Myke Tairu started as a community organizer and led several 'Ban the Box' campaigns throughout the state of Florida. After realizing the crucial role businesses can play in changing a community and fighting discrimination, Tairu launched Midtown Laundry and staffed it with formerly incarcerated individuals. M

FACT: No studies support the idea that formerly incarcerated individuals pose a greater security risk. Further, organizations in New York are protected from negligent hiring lawsuits. Insurers who write commercial crime insurance policies must provide coverage to an employer who has weighed the factors set out in NYCorrection Law Article 23-A and made a determination to hire the justice-involved applicant (NYS Insurance Regulation 209 of 2017). There is a presumption of due d

Donald Trump pardoned New Orleans criminal justice advocate Syrita Steib as one of his last acts in office Wednesday. The pardon, according to the White House, relieves Steib of paying nearly $2 million in restitution for a crime she was convicted of when she was 19. She was one of 143 people whom Trump pardoned or commuted their sentences. Who is Syrita Steib? Steib is the executive director and co-founder of Operation Restoration, which helps formerly incarcerated women wit

FACT: People change. Research has shown people with criminal records who are employed are less likely to commit a crime again. Employers who avoid applicants with criminal records overestimate the link between criminal histories and workplace productivity or the propensity to re-offend. Broad stereotypes about people with criminal records have no real-world basis. This post is an excerpt from Cornell University IRL (Industrial and Labor Relations) School's original post by Ti

Read the original article by Ashley Balcerzak at NorthJersey.com Though he peppered Jersey City landlords with a flurry of applications, future restaurant owner Candido Ortiz couldn’t find a place to live in the same city where he worked. Once landlords ran a background check, he would routinely be denied, or not hear back. Ortiz had served 28 years in prison for conspiracy to distribute narcotics and possession of a firearm. In 2016, President Barack Obama commuted his clo

Read the full story by Anna Wolf at Mississippi Today In 2019, people who had touched the criminal justice system in Mississippi held $507 million in debt as a result — more than double the $243 million they owed in 2009, according to a new report by the Hope Policy Institute . While court-ordered financial burdens grow, the minimum wage hasn’t budged and overall inflation-adjusted wages in Mississippi actually dropped in that same timeframe, according to a Mississippi Today

Read the full story on Inside Tuscon Business here In many states, including Arizona, incarcerated individuals who are serving time for less serious crimes have been trained to help with fire suppression across the state. Incarcerated firefighters go through the same training as members of any public or private fire crew, but once crew members leave prison, they often face difficulty getting hired as firefighters, typically because they lack documentation of their work or ca

Former felons in the State of Washington may get new voting rights, thanks in part to a formerly-incarcerated State Representative Currently, Washington residents with a felony record regain their voting rights only after serving their sentence and completing probation or parole. A proposed bill, HB 1078 – 2021-22, co-sponsored by Representative Tarra Simmons (D), the first formerly incarcerated person to serve in the Legislature, is seeking to change this by automatically r