Ex-Felons Can’t Get Jobs After Convictions Years Ago
By Don Kirchner
Today I came across a very disturbing article related to prisoner re-entry programs and the hurdles they face in returning former prisoners to the job market.
“It took Vikki Hankins 18 years to get out of prison. It’s her bad luck she got out during a recession. For an ex-felon in Florida to find a job these days is tough — nearly impossible.
“Basically, nobody will hire you,” said Stephanie Porta, spokeswoman for Orlando ACORN, a community-based advocacy organization that works with ex-felons looking for employment. “Even people with little felonies are not finding jobs.”
Hankins, 40, released eight months ago from a federal prison in Florida, is living in an International Drive motel paid for by Advocate4Justice, a group that promotes prison reform. She has been turned down for jobs at Denny’s, McDonald’s, Golden Corral, Walmart, Home Depot, Ramada Inn, Hess and 7-Eleven.
Hankins was sentenced to 23 years for possession of 22 grams of cocaine, but the mark of her conviction is something she will carry the rest of her life.
“There are people who paid the penalty for their mistakes. Inside the soul and the heart, they have changed completely,” said Hankins, who was convicted under the alias Vanessa Wade. “For those people, do you continue to punish them by holding them to the fire for the rest of their lives?”
“Florida, home to more than 600,000 released felons, should follow the lead of other states that offer employers tax incentives to hire them”, said state Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando. “And it needs to revisit a bill that stalled in the Florida Senate”, he said. “That legislation would have made it easier for released felons to have their criminal records expunged”, Siplin said. “Such a move would allow them to legally say on an application form that they have not been convicted of a felony”.
“A person who hasn’t committed a crime in 10 or 15 years, they should be able to resume their lives,” Siplin said.
The bill to make it easier for records to be expunged died after opposition from employers who said they need to know the criminal backgrounds of job applicants. Others say criminal records might continue to exist in various databases, even after their official removal.
In reading the comments regarding how “no one is hiring,” I find it difficult not to be moved by the most common dilemma facing newly released offenders and even former military veterans who are “guilty” of nothing but having served their country. Interesting that these two elements of our society face nearly identical circumstances when it comes to jobs. Having been both at different times in my life, I can speak with some degree of authority…added to which much of the time in the years after both “tours of duty,” I was also a single father of three children, all of whom chose to live with me.
Having said that, I want to say emphatically that there are always “jobs” out there, and several million illegal immigrants can attest to the fact. They may not be the most desirable jobs, but they are at least a place to start until one has proven him or herself to be willing to do whatever it takes–honorably–to get through the maze and to at least establish some degree of cash flow. Everything follows from there. In the year and half right after my release from federal prison, I threw newspapers from 3:00 AM until 6:00 AM, came home and got my kids ready for school, then worked at an art gallery until 5:00. Three nights a week I waited tables…and the combination of the three jobs kept us going until I was able to secure a “real” job, and eventually to get stable enough to start my own business.
Such is the course one sets for him or herself once one has ventured into the minefield of either incarceration or serving in the military, and either way one has only to set one’s mind and heart on the goals with no concern for how others may view it. Ultimately, whatever works, so long as it is honorable and trustworthy, is regarded as one of the most noble things one can do. Doors of opportunity open for such a person that one might never have thought possible before, but they don’t do so easily…until one reaches a point of reliability and steadfastness that other people take notice and are compelled not only to assist, but to change their own lives, too.
These are the times we live in now…times of accountability and virtue. Image alone is no longer of value or substance. There must be meaningful and consistent effort, respect and compassion…on both sides of the walls and the uniforms. We are all human beings, and as such must act with caring and respect for one another. AND, we must be willing to work and be productive. In like manner, if we’re in business and are in a position to hire others, it is imperative that we consider hiring someone who has faced challenges in their lives.
Reprint from:
The Cost of Freedom Blog
This blog is provided by the Society for Return to Honor, and Gary Mialocq, PhD., a rehabilitation counselor and Board of Directors member. http://return2honor-gm.blogspot.com/
