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“In a research paper, [Shawn D. Bushway, an economist and criminologist at the RAND Corporation] and his co-authors found that when former prisoners do land a job, ‘they earn significantly less than their counterparts without criminal history records, making the middle class ever less reachable for unemployed men’ in this cohort.
“One challenge is a longstanding presumption that people with criminal records are more likely to be difficult, untrustworthy or unreliable employees. DeAnna Hoskins, the president of JustLeadershipUSA, a nonprofit group focused on decreasing incarceration, said she challenged that concern as overblown. Moreover, she said, locking former prisoners out of the job market can foster ‘survival crime’ by people looking to make ends meet. …
“It can still feel like a minor victory ‘just getting somebody an interview,’ [Emerging Leaders™ participant Dant’e Cottingham] said, with only two or three companies typically showing preliminary interest in anyone with a serious record.
“‘I run into some doors, but I keep talking, I keep trying, I keep setting up meetings to have the discussion,’ he said. ‘It’s not easy, though.’”
Read the rest in this free gift article at NYTimes.com
(Photo above by Akilah Townsend for The New York Times)
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