The Benefits of Employing Convicted Felons

With unemployment skyrocketing to proportions not seen since the Great Depression, the ability for even the most impeccably qualified individual to obtain a job can be a daunting task. The United States boasts one of the largest prison populations in the world. Over 12 million citizens in the country are convicted felons, roughly 10% of the current working population. It is almost a certainty that the proportion of early released offenders will increase due to local and state wide budget cut backs across the country, making it even more difficult for these people to find gainful employment within their communities.

Community transition programs have been an effective tool with respect to providing felons after release with the necessary direction and resources such as resume building, trades programs, living placement and food assistance. Unfortunately for the greater percentage of these offenders, participating in these programs can still prove fruitless. Depending on the crime that the applicant had committed, an employer could understandably be justified in not hiring an individual with a criminal conviction for theft to fill a bank teller position over an applicant who does not have any criminal background. Convicted felons more often than not are forced to take unskilled lower paying jobs, regardless of experience and qualifications.

The one constant that employers must realize is that these offenders are human. They have family, Bills, skills and talents like anyone else. Like all humans, mistakes and indiscretions are made which lead to consequences. Many offenders emerge from incarceration or other court commitments with their debt paid to society and hope to start anew. They are hungry for an opportunity to reintegrate into their communities as regular law abiding citizens. Many feel hopeless after being turned down continuously; some even after giving an honest effort end up reoffending. In an effort to thwart employer turn downs the federal and several state governments have implemented several tax credit incentives. In order to keep ex-offenders from ending up incarcerated again and to lessen the impact of the current economic conditions, the federal government is offering up to a $2,400 tax credit per newly released offender that is hired. For an added measure the federal government also offers employers up to $5,000 of insurance in case damages are incurred by the employer caused from a hired offender.

On average in the United States, it costs $25,000 to house a typical prison inmate. As inflation continues to grow so will the tax burden to employees, employers as well as consumers. Because of prison overpopulation within the last 20 years, the focus of many state ran correctional institutions has shifted from solely keeping offenders away from society to finding ways to better offenders through academics, substance abuse counseling behavioral classes, as well as job skills training. Most all offenders know all too well the stigma attached to them when filling out a job application, some become so desperate as to lie or completely omit their criminal history. The best alternative options for those who cannot obtain gainful employment with a criminal history are to accept work from temporary agencies with no promise of steady work, non-taxed "under the table" jobs, start their own business or receive their income from illegal means. Unfortunately, over the last few years, the industrial sectors across the country has declined and consolidated to the point where the availability of unskilled temporary labor jobs are far and few between.

According to the U.S Department of Justice, almost half of the current prison population in the United States comprises of inmates that have committed non-violent drug offenses. The drug problem in this country has become an epidemic affecting almost everyone within its borders either directly or indirectly. Drug addiction has been proven to be a difficult and unrelenting disease destroying the individuals using the substances, the families and friends involved to whole communities where drug use and dealing seem to be the only way to escape economic plight.

With hard work and determination, ex-offenders can break the chains of their addictions as well as learn greatly from their mistakes and take the proactive role of being a responsible law abiding adult. Many of those who fall into this category, who have been given a chance by a perspective employer, can often exceed expectation. Many newly released offenders have a new found appreciation and a much greater respect for the law. Employers as a whole, no matter what profession, should not simply dismiss a potential candidate because of a criminal conviction. There are many highly talented people with blemished records that can be vital assets to all areas of business. In addition to the benefit of the offender and community, the greatest appeal to the employer is a lower actual employee overhead cost due to the offender work opportunity tax credits offered from the federal government. These substantial tax incentives can make the difference between a company that is failing and one that is thriving.