The Council of State Governments recently published “After the Sentence, More Consequences: A National Report of Barriers to Work,” a 32-page report that examines the struggles millions of former offenders face in finding employment due to existing U.S. statutes and regulations.
Even as some policymakers work to reduce employment barriers for criminal record holders in the U.S., more than 40,000 local, state, and federal statutes and regulations continue to make it extremely difficult for them to rebuild their lives, according to the report. These “collateral consequences of conviction” relate to everything from the ability to get a driver’s license to their eligibility for public benefits.
Most of all, though, former offenders in the U.S. have a hard time finding and retaining meaningful employment. According to CSG Justice Center Director Megan Quattlebaum, “Even in a thriving economy, [for Americans with criminal records], their unemployment rate was almost five times that of people without criminal records. The first step to meaningfully changing these barriers is understanding them.”
This study by the CSG Justice Center represents a move toward understanding why this is and developing specific policy guidance lawmakers can use to tackle reform.
The CSG’s full report provides national and state-by-state overviews of the close to 30,000 state and federal collateral consequences of conviction that prevent former offenders from getting hired or create roadblocks to earning occupational licenses for specific jobs. The CSG has used these results to develop a national playbook identifying strategies states can apply to reduce the impact of employment-related collateral consequences, and a customized playbooks for states that shows the progress already made on this front.
Employment services and job readiness are major aspects of the intensive evidence-based treatment and services GEO Reentry Services offers to probationers, parolees and pretrial defendants at its residential and non-residential reentry centers. Staff at GEO Reentry centers facilitate onsite employment readiness group sessions, provide on-site access to computer-based career skills programming, host job and resource fairs, and work closely with participants and local organizations to facilitate participant job searches and placement.
In addition to offering employment and education services, GEO Reentry staff also help participants address their individual risks and needs by developing a behavior change plan that teaches prosocial behaviors and life skills, helping to improve their odds of success upon reentering the community. Explore all GEO Reentry programming here.