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We hear every day that the economy is booming and unemployment is at historic lows. That may be true for those with a squeaky-clean background and work history, but there are many individuals seeking work in our community who have been left out of today’s prosperity. Topping the list of these deserving but overlooked job-seekers are community members who have been involved in the criminal justice system—an estimated 1.4 million individuals in Wisconsin—at the same time employers say there’s a labor shortage. These returned citizens have paid their debt to society; they want to get back to work and, most importantly, not return to prison. Yet, they face many obstacles on their path to employment.
We’ve found that one of the biggest obstacles these job-seekers face is perception of risk. When they apply for a job and an employer discovers that they have been incarcerated, they’re treated with extreme caution if not outright rejected. Employers worry that returned citizens will cause problems on the job, commit another crime and go back to prison, or have no work skills or soft skills, making them a bad bet.
But employers should know that their perceptions are misguided. Many organizations in Milwaukee assist returned citizens so that their chances of succeeding in the workplace and at home are improved. For example, Community Warehouse’s Partners in Hope division, though relatively new, is showing great results, and their job board is filled with offers from local employers seeking new hires. “We walk with them—that’s transformative,” CEO Nick Ringger says of the relationships they build with the program’s participants.
Staff begin building relationships with individuals while they are incarcerated and for 18 months after their release, with mentoring, peer support, job-search skills and soft skills development. Ringger says 100% of participants have found work with just a 10% recidivism rate, below the Wisconsin average of 30%. Ringger says the participants are highly motivated to succeed. “Rather than looking at them as a negative and a drain on society, employers are realizing that with some work, they can be a huge asset,” he says. “They’re starting to get that picture. We’ve got working-age men and women who wouldn’t get a single look, but now people realize that in many ways, they are better employees because they understand what it is to have a second chance.”
Also reducing the risk of hiring a returned citizen is the U.S. Labor Department’s Fidelity Bonds offered through the Federal Bonding Program (bonds4jobs.com) for at-risk or hard-to-place job seekers, including returned citizens. These bonds protect the employer against losses caused by the fraudulent or dishonest acts of the bonded employee and are offered at no cost to the employer.
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The bonds lessen the risk employers may feel if they want to hire someone who has a less-than squeaky-clean background. But, again, that risk is a perception, not reality. According to the Department of Labor, just 1% of these bonds have resulted in a claim. In other words, there’s a 1% risk that a bonded employee with a criminal background will steal, embezzle or commit forgery on the job—in contrast to the hesitation that an employer may have when deciding to hire a returned citizen.
We, at the Milwaukee Reentry Council, invite business owners, managers and HR professionals to the Southeast Wisconsin Reentry Employer Networking Expo to meet with agencies that can provide qualified candidates and learn about the benefits of hiring returned citizens. Employers are invited to stop by the expo anytime from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 24, at the Mary Mother of the Church Pastoral Center, 3501 S. Lake Drive (the former Cousins Center). Go to reentryexpo.eventbrite.com for details and to RSVP.
