80 million individuals in this country have a criminal record
. Think about that 80 million individuals, that's 25%
of the US population. We have 10 million jobs
. And what we need to do is find ways
in which to create opportunities for those 80 million to
work in companies, small, medium and large sized
in this country. We don't need to be providing
opportunities for 3 to 5 individuals with criminal records.
We need to be affecting the lives of thousands and
tens of thousands of individuals. People with criminal records
are often sidelined in the labor market. According to
the University of Michigan applicants without convictions, received 60%
more job callbacks than those with one. Those aren't
great odds for the millions of Americans who have criminal
records. But this idea of second chance hiring could
be changing that. What do we mean by second
chance hiring? It's really about the practice of hiring
, retaining or keeping and promoting individuals with criminal records
. We're talking about the full range of individuals with
a record. It could be a misdemeanor all the
way to a serious offense if you are a company
, a firm that wants to hire individuals with criminal
records wants to start a second chance program. What
are some of the, you know, 12 and
three that, that firm should do the best laid
packages come in threes. So I'm glad you gave
me that number. The first thing I would suggest
is make the case. Look at the research,
look at the day to your company. What are
your talent needs? Are there individuals in underserved or
from underserved population that are not represented in your company
? So start with the numbers and make the case
. Second action is look at your hr those are
the people that hire, they set the systems up
on who gets in, who gets out. But
also in addition to the hr policies, look at
your practices, it doesn't do any good if you
develop the policies but you don't execute well. What
do I mean by that? Some companies are looking
at the practice of eliminating four year degrees for all
the jobs take look at the skills that are essential
to work in the company and to be successful in
the company. So skills based hiring. Third thing
you should do is forge partnerships. Don't pretend as
if you are the first to do this work.
There are a lot of organizations that are doing this
work already capitalize on that business. Can't do this
alone, state and local governments can't do this alone
and the nonprofits can't do this alone. We need
to be having significant impact and that is in the
thousands and tens of thousands, we can't have that
impact if we're not locking arms and figuring out how
we do this work together. One of the challenges
that I think we face is do we ban the
box and asking if you have a criminal record is
that enough to allow an individual to get into a
company and work? The fact of the matter is
you can ban the box. But ultimately, if
you're offered the job, a background check is going
to be conducted. Ban the box laws prohibit employers
from asking job candidates to disclose their criminal history.
Often by checking a box on an application at the
start of the hiring process, the intention is to
give those with criminal records a fair chance at employment
, but the data is mixed on how effective they
actually are. Some advocates say a different approach is
needed particularly for Black Americans that are disproportionately impacted by
the criminal justice system. Do we look at the
entire length of individual's life or do we look only
so far back or do we look at whether or
not the criminal offense has any relationship to the job
the individual has applied for? Those are some of
the critical challenges that companies are working through as they
embark on this work. Talk to me a bit
about some of the successes that you've seen like,
what is the data? Tell us about, you
know, retention rates for individuals with criminal records or
the success that they have once they're on the job
, we have a company who's created an apprenticeship program
and that apprenticeship program has converted 93% of the individuals
are now fully employed. What's equally impressive? 0%
for those that were in jail have actually ended up
back in jail and a 97% retention rate. They're
keeping their jobs. But why are they keeping their
jobs? Because companies are also thinking about what are
the supports we need to help mentoring. How do
we provide advice to the individual? So they don't
just get the initial job. How do they acquire
new skills that allow them to take advantage of better
jobs with better pay? Some individuals need child care
, others need transportation assistance. This is critical for
many of these individuals that are first generation to work
in corporate America, giving them the career is the
first step. The supports ensure their success long term
. Is there one story that sticks in your mind
? That is just basically a perfect example of like
, ah this is why we do this. I
go to a personal experience with a family member who
has a criminal record and has had a drug addiction
. These opportunities have been limited because no one can
get past the fact that not only does he have
a criminal record, but no one sees actually that
he's overcome all those obstacles. So for me personally
, it's that motivation and there are thousands and thousands
of those stories across this country where employers are seeing
successes and we just need to tell those stories.
We have an opportunity to affect the lives of individuals
. We have an opportunity to break the cycle where
the dad had a criminal offense. The child has
a criminal offense. The grandchild has a criminal offense
. We're going to break that and we need to
be bringing out all the tools in the toolbox to
solve this workforce problem and address some of the racial
wealth gap issues that exist in this country.