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Issue Brief
Prisoner Re-Entry Employment - Overview
Goal Statement one sentence that further defines the topic
- To provide job opportunities and job training essential for successful reentry into the community upon release from prison.
Local/State/National Information additional information on this topic at the local, state, national, global level
Policy Options / Model Programs link to profiles of specific policies or program models, grouped by type
Federal Reentry Employment Initiatives
- National Employment Law Project
- An organization that works to restore economic opportunities by addressing the need for social reform from the ground up. NELP develops and tests new policies at the local and state levels, then eventually strives to implement said policies at the national level. NELP has released several reports on new policies and reforms addressing the relationship between criminal records and employment.
- Some NELP reports on current fair hiring initiatives include:
- Cities Pave the Way
- Smart on Crime: Recommendations for the Administration and Congress
- A report released for the 112th Congress and the Obama administration addressing problems in the state and federal criminal justice systems and recommendations of ways to address said problems. "Part Three" of the report includes a section devoted to re-entry, which addresses several recommendations in regards to the relationship between criminal records and employment.
- These recommendations include:
- Amending the "Higher Education Act"
- This would extend Pell Grant eligibility for "in-prison" education programs so that incarcerated individuals can receive an education to be better prepared for the work world and to be more competitive in the overall hiring process
- Reauthorizing the "Workforce Investment Act"
- Strengthening "Work Opportunity Tax Credit"
National Nonprofit Reentry Employment Organizations
- All of Us or None
- A national organization that strives to build a movement for full restoration of human and civil rights for individuals with criminal records. Central to the organization's work has been the national Ban the Box campaign. Nine states and more than 50 local governments have implemented various Ban the Box reforms.
- Ban the Box Campaign
- Generally, the Ban the Box campaign seeks to:
- Remove the question which asks "Have you ever been convicted by a court?" from initial applications, particularly initial employment and housing applications
- Limit the number of employment positions that require background checks
- Uphold this same requirement for private companies that contract with cities and counties
- Ban the Box Guide Resource Guide:
State Government Reentry Employment Projects
Local Reentry Employment Programs
- Sweet Beginnings
- Sweet Beginnings is a wholly owned subsidiary of the North Lawndale Employment Network which began in 2004 and offers full-time transitional jobs for formerly incarcerated individuals and others with significant barriers to employment. This program teaches beekeeping 101 as well as, the commercial and manufacturing aspects of making beeline® products, i.e honey, beeswax, candles, and byproduct that the bee produces.
Local In-Prison and Reentry-Focused Employment Programs
- The Sustainability Project
- Olympia, Washington, is a partnership of the Washington State Department of Corrections and The Evergreen State College. Our mission is to bring science and nature into prisons. We conduct ecological research and conserve biodiversity by forging collaborations with scientists, inmates, prison staff, students, and community partners. Equally important, we help reduce the environmental, economic, and human costs of prisons by inspiring and informing sustainable practices.
- Inmate Beekeeping Program
- This program started in July 2011 and has expanded to four prison facilities in Florida. The training process is led by Florida’s department of agriculture, Dave Menendez. Approximately 20 inmates per year have gone through this program. Once training is complete, and released from prison. Inmates are provided the opportunity to attend a job interview, and work as a beekeeper under the supervisor of Mr. Menendez.
Glossary of Terms key words or phrases that the layperson needs to know to understand this issue
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