Employers encouraged to consider hiring the formerly incarcerated

In 2018, Oklahoma had a reported 43,000 people behind bars in various facilities across the state with one of the highest incarceration rates in the nation. Things have improved, but more can still be done to reduce the state’s prison and jail population. One way is by developing programs to reduce recidivism among former inmates who need a job and who truly want to be productive members of society.

There is currently a concerted effort among OKC-area leaders to encourage more businesses to hire the formerly incarcerated, often referred to as justice-involved individuals. That would bode well for a company’s bottom line as the lack of available talent is one of the biggest challenges facing businesses today.

Joe Ely, who currently serves as director of business & industry for Moore Norman Technology Center, said during his previous job with the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education, they helped place thousands of justice-involved individuals with various employers.

“As folks get out of prison, they are needing a job and needing to re-enter society and needing some way to support their families and themselves; they need a chance. And they’re available. As far as employers looking to hire those folks, that is a great untapped resource,” Ely said.

Michael Bowling, attorney, Crowe & Dunlevy, represents employers in various human resources employment law matters. He said many employers’ hiring policies are slightly rooted in fear instead of information, and may be illegal.

“A lot of employers still have policies that state they won’t hire anybody with a felony or criminal conviction. It is important for employers to know that those are illegal policies. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s guidance provides that that kind of over-broad policy actually is what we call disparate impact on people in minority communities and violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” Bowling said.

Jenna Morey is executive director of ReMerge of Oklahoma County, a pre-trial diversion program that helps mothers facing non-violent felony charges. She said the number one reason why someone is likely to reoffend is joblessness.

“If we can take care of joblessness and we can put people to work, then we not only heal those families and those people we are putting to work, we help stop the cycles of intergenerational incarceration but also heal our communities while also contributing to our economy. It really is not just a win, win; it’s a win, win, win, win,” Morey said, noting that approximately 40 companies have recently signed up with ReMerge to be second-chance employers.

Formerly incarcerated himself for 21 years, Doug Shaffer, who is director of operations at Scissortail Waste Solutions, LLC, said 47% of his current workforce are second-chance individuals.

“When you give them an opportunity or allow them to have a job that is more than just digging a ditch or working in construction, something that is meaningful or an in-demand career, they are the best people. They will be some of the most committed and loyal people you have. They are my target population, and I want to give them a chance like the one I received [when I was released from prison],” Shaffer said.

There were two primary obstacles Shaffer said he faced when he was searching for employment following his release: societal bias and not being given a fair opportunity.

“I understand why people have those fears and concerns, but in my particular case, most people I have interviewed with, that bias is unfounded. Just because I had a background, people would just dismiss you. I received multiple, very high-level job offers over the last 10 years until a background check. Once they ran a background check, there was no discussion, and they would withdraw the job offer,” Shaffer said.

Shaffer said he could understand a company’s apprehension to hire someone with a criminal background, especially if the job function was sensitive to the applicant’s background.

“You don’t want a child molester working with children or a drug dealer working at a pharmacy or a bank robber in a bank. But if the background is not relative to the job function, there should be more than just an absolute no,” he stated, adding that most people do not even know what information is included in their background checks.

For many businesses that have embraced second-chance hiring and have made it part of their overall hiring practices, they are discovering that justice-involved employees are typically very loyal, hard workers with high productivity and high morale, and good problem solvers.

“It is not just a 9-5 job but a source of pride and purpose in their lives that they may have never had before,” Morey said.

Various resources are available for businesses or organization that are interested in second-chance hiring. The Greater Oklahoma City Chamber and the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Advisory Council (CJAC), with assistance from Moore Norman Technology Center, recently developed a resource guide or tool kit that provides helpful information to employers, such as the legal implications and guidelines for hiring justice-involved individuals as well as tips they can use to help the interviewing and hiring processes go more smoothly.

That tool kit can be found at velocityokc.com/blog/economy/chamber-releases-fair-chance-hiring-toolkit.

This article originally appeared in the July 2021 edition of the VeloCity newsletter.