Justice & The Next 250: Why Economic Mobility Should Be Corrections’ North Star

By Harley Blakeman

In 2012, when I walked out of prison after 427 days of incarceration, nobody asked whether I would achieve economic mobility. Nobody asked whether I would eventually earn a college degree, buy a home, start a business, create jobs, or build wealth.

Instead, the question everyone seemed focused on was whether I would come back. The criminal justice system had a metric for my potential failure. It had no metric for my future success. As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, I believe that needs to change.

For generations, correctional systems have measured what happens during incarceration and whether someone returns after release. We track disciplinary infractions, program completions, educational achievements, and recidivism rates. While these measures are important, they tell us surprisingly little about whether someone is actually building a better life.

Over the next 250 years, economic mobility should become the north star metric for corrections.

The reason is simple: Economic mobility is one of the clearest indicators that someone is successfully reintegrating into society.

Over the next 250 years, economic mobility should become the north star metric for corrections.

After my release, I experienced firsthand how difficult that journey can be. Despite being determined to rebuild my life, I struggled to find employment. Like millions of other Americans with criminal records, I discovered that a conviction often creates barriers long after a sentence has been completed.

Eventually, someone gave me a chance. That opportunity changed everything.

I earned my GED in prison, enrolled at The Ohio State University after my release, graduated with honors, founded a fair-chance employment business, raised millions of dollars in investment capital, and helped build companies dedicated to serving justice-impacted individuals.

None of those outcomes were inevitable. They were the result of opportunity.

That experience shaped how I think about criminal justice reform today.

For the past decade, I have worked alongside correctional agencies, probation and parole departments, employers, workforce organizations, and hundreds of thousands of people impacted by the justice system. Through my work, I have had the opportunity to observe what works and what does not.

The most encouraging trend I see is that more correctional leaders are beginning to focus on what happens after release.

Increasingly, wardens, commissioners, and reentry professionals are asking questions that would have been far less common a decade ago:

How many people are employed after release?

Which programs lead to higher wages?

Which workforce partnerships create real career opportunities?

Which interventions help people move from poverty to stability?

Those questions matter, because employment is about much more than a paycheck.

A job creates structure, purpose, and dignity. It helps people secure housing, support their families, access healthcare, and participate fully in their communities. Economic mobility creates the foundation upon which nearly every other positive outcome is built.

Yet despite billions of dollars spent annually on corrections and reentry services, most systems still have limited visibility into these outcomes.

Nearly every state tracks recidivism. Far fewer systematically track employment. Even fewer track wage growth, career advancement, entrepreneurship, homeownership, or other indicators of economic progress.

Imagine if we evaluated schools primarily by measuring how many students dropped out, rather than how many graduated, attended college, found meaningful careers, or achieved financial stability. That would seem absurd. Yet that is often how we evaluate corrections.

Recidivism remains important, but it is ultimately a measure of failure. It tells us who came back. Economic mobility tells us who moved forward.

If we want to build a more just nation over the next 250 years, we must also focus on opportunity.

Over the next 250 years, correctional systems should become far more focused on measuring and improving outcomes that reflect long-term success. Agencies should know how many people are employed 90 days, one year, and three years after release. They should understand which programs produce the strongest economic outcomes. They should track wage progression, credential attainment, career advancement, and business creation.

Most importantly, they should use that information to drive continuous improvement. What gets measured gets improved.

For much of American history, our criminal justice system has focused on accountability and public safety. Those goals remain essential. But if we want to build a more just nation over the next 250 years, we must also focus on opportunity.

Opportunity is what transforms lives.

As someone who was once incarcerated and later became an entrepreneur, I know that talent is distributed far more evenly than opportunity. Every day, there are people leaving jails and prisons across America with tremendous potential that remains unseen.

Our challenge is not simply helping them avoid failure. Our challenge is helping them achieve success.

When future generations look back on this era of criminal justice reform, I hope they will see it as the moment when we stopped defining success solely by the absence of crime and started defining success by the presence of opportunity.

Because the true measure of justice is not whether someone avoids returning to prison. It is whether they have a genuine chance to move up.

If we are serious about building a stronger America over the next 250 years, economic mobility should become the north star metric that guides our correctional systems, our reentry investments, and our vision for what is possible after incarceration.

Harley Blakeman is an entrepreneur, criminal justice reform advocate, and formerly incarcerated leader. After being incarcerated at 19, he earned his GED, graduated with honors from The Ohio State University, and founded Honest Jobs, a national employment platform that has helped hundreds of thousands of justice-impacted individuals access job opportunities and reentry resources. He currently serves as Director of Business Development at Orijin, where he works with correctional agencies across the country to improve reentry outcomes through pre- and post-release technology and programming.

Published in partnership with the Justice & The Next 250 campaign