Laura Misjak has an article in the Indianapolis Star about the troubles of ex-convicts in finding jobs once they get out. This is something I come across a lot since one of my collection clients is the county’s community corrections program. The people from whom I’m trying to collect in that situation are, by definition, convicts of one sort or another. Frankly, I have been impressed by the numbers who do manage to find work. The personalities of ex-convicts are pretty much as broad as the personalities of people generally, but one “kind” of convict I run across with some frequency is the guy who has really grown up because of the experience — just focused on working hard and extricating himself from the mess. (There are plenty who are still making excuses and complaining about how hard life is; possibly true, but irrelevant.)
Anyway, the article reports that the Indy City-County Council is looking at incentives to employers to get them to hire ex-convicts.
City-County Councilwoman Marilyn Pfisterer is trying to ease the way for those with felony records: She is sponsoring an ordinance to give businesses that hire them an upper hand when bidding on city or county contracts.
. . .
With fines, probation, child support and other costs, the average debt for those coming out of prison in Indianapolis is $28,000, Keesling said. In other words, finding a job is important.
“We’ve got to provide a person a fighting chance to do the right thing and this bill will do that,” he said.
The biggest problem I would have with this sort of legislation is if it would disadvantage potential employees who didn’t commit any crimes. If I were a law-abiding guy looking for work, I’d be pissed if I got passed up for a job because the government created a preference for convicts.
I don’t have any clue how such a thing would be implemented, but I would suggest something along the lines of an insurance program that reduces the risk to employers for hiring convicts – something that doesn’t necessarily give an advantage to employers for hiring convicts, but takes away the disadvantage.
My folks own a moving and storage business. How would you like it if someone who was convicted of robbery was “invited” into your house to pack up everything-from jewelry, to silverware, to you name it? Also, what would happen to the bondability of those companies?
Sounds like what they do for a company that has MBE/WBE consultants and subcontractors. Depending upon how many “points” you have, your bid can actually be higher than another bid and you still get the contract.
I understand the problem, but I struggle with the idea that this is an appropriate solution. Unlike race, or gender, which are (generally speaking) out of a person’s control, discrimination on the basis of felony history seems… uh… smart?
Look up WOTC on the State’s DWD site.
How about extended unemployment benefits? I didn’t see it on the network news tonight or the cover pages of most news aggregate sites. It’s part of the war spending bill (oh and the there must be an election this year package).
Ex-cons are punished through the criminal justice system. After they complete their punishment, they should no longer be punished in society. I agree that a pedophile should not work with children, but many jobs shouldn’t be asking if people are ex-convicts. Ex-cons made a mistake, but after their punishment they should not be outcasts in society.