U.S. House Committee Holds Hearing to Examine Federal Policies on Hiring Ex-Offenders

Prison Fellowship President Mark Earley Urged Congress to Remove Roadblocks to Hiring Ex-Prisoners & Encouraged Recruitment of Mentors

LANSDOWNE, Va., June 10, 2008—The House of Representatives' Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service and the District of Columbia held a hearing to examine federal employment policies on hiring ex-offenders on June 10.  Prison Fellowship President and former Virginia Attorney General Mark Earley testified at the hearing, held at 2 p.m. in Room 2154 of the Rayburn House Office Building.  As leader of the world's largest outreach to prisoners, ex-prisoners and their families, Earley told the committee that:

• Jobs are essential to the successful re-entry of the nearly 700,000 prisoners¹ who will be released from our nation's prisons this year.
• Ex-offenders who are not able to find employment are much more likely to join the more than half of former prisoners who will end up back behind bars within three years.²
• The federal government should remove a variety of artificial barriers it has constructed that prevent ex-offenders from obtaining meaningful employment.
• In addition to gainful employment, mentors are a critical link between ex-offenders and their successful return to the community.

"Studies show that finding a stable and adequate income upon release from prison is often the greatest predictor of whether an ex-offender will end up back in prison or if he or she will make it on the outside," said Earley.  "The federal government and most of the states have laws that prevent ex-offenders from holding jobs in certain environments such as schools, nursing homes and hospitals.  Many states even exclude ex-offenders from being barbers or cosmetologists, the very skills many inmates develop inside prison.  These ‘invisible punishments' may make sense for offenders whose criminal history would pose a threat in particular types of work, but blanket prohibitions needlessly limit the job prospects of returning inmates.  Should someone who passed bad checks be prevented from cutting hair?"

 

Earley also testified on the crucial role that mentors play in helping prisoners re-assimilate into society.  The importance of mentors to returning prisoners was stressed by Dr. Byron Johnson in his 2003 study of the Texas InnerChange Freedom Initiative, the re-entry program operated by Prison Fellowship under contract with the state.  Johnson's study found that graduates of the InnerChange Freedom Initiative - which emphasizes mentorship beginning 12-18 months from release and continues with mentoring post-release - were 2.5 times less likely to be re-incarcerated than were inmates in a comparison group.  The two-year, post-release re-incarceration rate among InnerChange Freedom Initiative graduates in Texas was eight percent, compared with 20.3 percent for the matched comparison group.  Johnson emphasized that mentors were "absolutely critical" to the impressive results.

 

"Mentors teach ex-offenders what their employers will expect of them: They need to show up on time, put in a day's work for a day's pay and inform their employer if they will be absent or late," said Earley.  "Most importantly, they teach them to be honest.  They let ex-offenders know that character is what you do when no one else is looking."

 

Earley's testimony came on the heels of Congress' passage of the Second Chance Act, which will focus prisons on preparing inmates for their release.  The bi-partisan legislation was shepherded through Congress by Prison Fellowship, among others, and President Bush signed it into law on April 9.  Prison Fellowship believes that helping ex-prisoners find meaningful employment is the next step in impacting the viability and stability of ex-offenders' relationships with their families and communities, which ultimately is an issue of public safety.

 

Click here to view Earley's full testimony.  

 

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¹ U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2007

² U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2002

 

 

 

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