The Pros of Hiring Ex-Cons!

The Pros of Hiring Ex-Cons!

By Michael Robinson, M.S.
Director - Community Outreach and Hiring, Temple University
Senior Pastor, Greater Enon Missionary Baptist Church
Commissioner, Mayor's Commission on African American Males

Serving time in jail is a tough sentence no matter how you slice it. But the reality is that thousands of ex-offenders are released from American jails every month and it's imperative that local employers make a genuine effort to hire qualified ex-offenders that are re-entering society.

If we (employers) don't make the genuine effort to train and/or hire ex-offenders then we're handicapping their opportunity to attain gainful employment, which greatly reduces recidivism and crime in the community.

According to an article published by The Huffington Post (“Five Bottom Line Reasons Why Employers Should Hire Ex-Felons”), author Mike Green presents his thesis and benefits as to why employers should consider hiring qualified ex-offenders:

"For employers, there exists a real opportunity to disrupt the continuous cycle of quarantining humans. And for the sake of society at large, sustainable employment may not only represent our best opportunity to significantly disrupt recidivism and the growing population of Americans with criminal records, it may be our only option… States now spend more than $52B out of their budgets (second only to Medicaid), for incarceration… Employment is one of the tools we have to address this growing problem. Those who pay their debt to society and emerge from prison with a new perspective and lease on life deserve an opportunity to earn a living… With more than 630,000 inmates released into neighborhoods across America every year, the community of ex-felons released each year is larger than the population of many major cities. Employers are already discovering the challenges of finding good employees without criminal records. Perhaps it’s time employers considered the benefits of hiring good employees who happen to be ex-felons.”

Organizations like Connection Training Services, PACareerLink, the Mayor’s Office of R.I.S.E., and Impact Service Corporation, are just a few committed community partners in Philadelphia, PA, that successfully train and groom ex-offenders for gainful employment.

According to Community Integrated Services in Philadelphia, PA,

“Philadelphia Re-Entry Employment Program (PREP): Grants a $10,000 credit against Philadelphia’s Business Privilege Tax to any eligible employer who hires an ex-offender. Employers can receive up to a $10,000 tax credit each year for three years for each ex-offender hired for at least six months. The maximum amount of tax credit a business may receive for any one Qualifying Employee over all tax years is $30,000.”

Creative incentives like these give small businesses and large employers strong financial reasons to consider hiring ex-offenders.

John Shegerian, Chairman and CEO of Electronic Recyclers International, has 20 years of experience hiring ex-offenders. He’s employed hundreds of ex-cons.  In an article published by the Business News Daily (“5 Reasons to Consider Hiring an Ex-Prisoner”), Shegerian says ex-offenders,

“…try harder to and take their job very seriously… Imagine what would happen to our recidivism rates, gang participation rates, crime rates and drug abuse rates if every business in the U.S. opened their doors and their hearts to hire just one ex offender.”

For those that have paid their debt to society, it’s important that employers give these ex-offenders serious consideration for employment. Otherwise, we become a part of the problem by indirectly contributing to the escalating recidivism rate that's occurs throughout the American penal system.  Let's make a concerted effort to give qualified ex-offenders a second chance to succeed.

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