From the Los Angeles Times
SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET Doing too much time When job applications
ask for conviction records, former inmates rarely get an interview or a
chance to start a new life.
June 3, 2006
CALIFORNIA'S PRISONS AND JAILS are overflowing largely because so many
of their inmates are like boomerangs: Throw them out the front gates
and before long they're headed right back where they came from. That's in
part because crime is often the only career choice for felons rejected
for legitimate jobs.
The state prison system bears part of the blame for its high recidivism
rate because it does very little to train inmates for the work world.
But it isn't just about the prisons. Most job applications ask whether
prospective employees have ever committed a felony; when a screener sees
that box checked, the application usually goes straight to the reject
pile, with the applicant given no chance to demonstrate that he or she
has gone straight. The city and the county of Los Angeles are taking
steps to change that.
Last week, county supervisors ordered a study on whether it would be
feasible to remove the requirement that all prospective county employees
reveal their history of convictions on initial job applications, and a
similar measure was sent last week to the L.A. City Council's Personnel
Committee. The measures are patterned on policy changes recently
adopted in Boston, Chicago and San Francisco.
If the measures eventually are approved, the city and the county
wouldn't start hiring felons without knowing it. That would be a recipe for
trouble, given the sensitive information and valuable public property
municipal employees often manage. The laws only would apply to the
initial applications, in which prospective workers are screened before being
called in for interviews and more paperwork. In that later phase,
applicants still would have to reveal whether they had been convicted of a
felony.
The point of the measures is that they would give ex-convicts a foot in
the door; an opportunity to see employers face to face without being
routinely screened out. Many would still be rejected, just at a later
stage of the hiring process. But at least they would be able to make the
case that they deserve a second chance.
Americans tend to believe that redemption is possible; that once a
felon has done time, the slate is wiped clean. But that belief is not
really reflected in Americans' hiring practices. Ex-cons represent a risk
that few businesses are willing to take on. The city and county laws
under consideration are a very small step toward encouraging employers to
give felons a second chance, and they won't make much of a dent in the
prison population. But they're a start.
__________________________________________________
Carol Leonard __________________________________________________
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