Some Urge Removal of Criminal Record Boxes from Job Applications
Finding a job is hard enough in this economy, but for convicted felons, it can be nearly impossible. As more are being paroled to save the State of Michigan money, advocates for ex-offenders say that getting rid of a check box on job applications would help more of these people get interviewed for positions.
Penny Ryder, Co-Director of the American Friends Service Committee’s Criminal Justice Program, says that Battle Creek and Kalamazoo have already implemented policies forbidding vendors from excluding felons from employment… and she hopes other cities do the same. She says hiring released convicts can have benefits. Ryder says that former prisoners need the community’s support if they’re to get their lives restarted in the right direction, and critical to that is a decent job. She hopes such job applicants can be judged not by their criminal records, but by their qualifications. In some cases, however, these efforts have met fierce opposition from business groups.
Reprinted with written permission from: The Background Investigator, Steve Brownstein
One Response to “Some Urge Removal of Criminal Record Boxes from Job Applications”
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I have a manslaughter charge on my record from 1985 and it is preventing me from getting employment. I have tried to have it expunged but have been unsuccessful. I have not been in trouble since but I am having a difficult time finding employment. Could you give me some advice??
Thank you