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Tesha Sloan
English 1010
Jim Beatty
December 07, 2015
Ex-offenders Facing Barriers with Employment.
You do the crime you do the time is what they say but for ex-offenders doing the time is
not enough for the justice system. After doing the time ex-offenders face new challenges like not
being able to get a job. Ex-offenders are people who have broken the law and had to do some jail
or prison time for crime they have committed. Because employers check background
information, it makes it hard for ex-offenders to be employed. A back ground check has
information about a persons criminal history, shows records of a misdemeanor or felony,
indicates if the case was dismissed or charged, and shows how long they will be on probation.
But the question is how can ex-offenders change their life style if their background reveals too
much information to employers? The problem with employers checking background
information on ex-offenders sets barriers on them to be employed and the majority of exoffenders usually end up committing crimes again to be able to have some money to survive. The
criminal justice system, government and law makers need to understand what kind of barriers exoffenders have to face with getting a job. Ex-offenders shouldnt have to have any restriction or
obstacles that interfere with them getting a job after they have done their time for their charge.

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Background checks can have a positive effect on certain work environment. Yes, it is
understandable if employers want to do background checks to see if their employers are working
in a safe environment and it is necessary to check a background if it involves kids, prescription
drugs or sensitive information. For an example a sex-offender shouldnt work in a daycare or a
person with a drug charge shouldnt work at a pharmacy. But if an ex-offender wants to work as
bagger at a grocery store that shouldnt have to be a problem. Ex-offenders are discriminated by
employers when they do background checks on them and that set barriers on them to be
employed. As of right now employers dont want to hire ex-offenders even for jobs that dont
require any supervision or need for a background check. Employers need to give more
exceptions for ex-offenders to get a job. Employers then should consider what criminal record
they want to consider for employment that wont put anybodys safety at risk.
Its harder for ex-offenders to stay out of jail due to discrimination against ex-offender
who had been in jail/ prison. This interview was taken with Carlos Colon inside the maximumsecurity jail by Chico Harlan in the Washington Post. Colon tells his interviewer about the
struggles he had with getting a job when he was not incarcerated. This is not the first time Colon
has been incarcerated. Colon says if he violates his parole after his release, hell be back behind
bars for fifteen years (Harlan). Colons knows that his record wont hold an interview and tried
to lie to be able to get a job but the employers always find out and fire him. Carlos has learned
from his mistakes and learned some skills from the maximum security jail where inmates try to
get a job. The jail have coaches to help inmates on how to give advice on asking for a fair
chance in employment and inmates are taught how to deal with tough interview questions
(Harlan).

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From the help of the maximum security jail coaches help inmates on how to prepare for job
interview after they are released. But even with the help from the jail the statistics still show 13.9
million ex-felons population in prison (ex-offenders and the labor market). If you think about
this statistic you have to realize this is how many ex-offenders that will be without a job when
they are released. Barack Obama has said Americans incarceration rate has skyrocket for
decades, has recently stared to go down a necessary change in the criminal justice system has
opened a broader and controversial debate about how to prepare inmates for reentry, and the
degree to which a criminal record should be considered for employment (Harlan). Obama is right
when he says to prepare inmates for reentry and to which degree a criminal record should be
considered for employment (Harlan). But when he says the numbers are down that is when
inmates are released from jail/prison and are without a job. Because of the challenges that exoffenders have to face with employers checking their background makes it impossible to prepare
inmates for reentry and employment.
Best Jobs for Ex-offenders: 101 opportunities to your new life by Ron Krannich is a book
about how ex-offenders can find a job with what degree they are charged with. The book gives
information on what jobs will hire an ex-offender with a charge on their record but it has to pass
the time frame of one to fifteen years and the type of offense that employers might hire an exoffender (Krannich). This book does not only talk about ex-offenders in the workplace but it also
talks about the type of education an ex-offender can pursue if they want to continue their
education(Krannich).
This book has taught me a lot about ex-offenders and some of the barriers they face are with
employment, education and housing (Krannich). The question is how can expect someone to
change and learn from their mistakes if they dont have any options to work with. This book

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gives information to ex-offenders on how to get a job with the charges you have on your record
but I dis-agree with it because there is also a page where it tells how employers will accept your
application after the time required has passed. The information in this source given to exoffenders about the opportunities to get a job are very limited and have to wait one to fifteen
years to actually be considered for a job (Krannich). Even with education and housing exoffenders have barriers and are discriminated because of what is on their background. With
housing ex-offenders cant be helped or they cant be in someone else home living with a
criminal record. Ex-offenders also cant pursue their education in high demanding career
depending what type of charge they have on their record. With the barriers ex-offenders have
with employment, housing and education it is almost impossible for them to be independent.

Researchers have discovered that employers dont want to hire ex-offenders that have
been incarcerated for a long time or if they are a repeated offender. Researchers give a report on
employers not wanting to hire ex-offenders (Schmitt and Warner) because of length of time and
repeating offenders are not usually considered for employment. Center for economic and policy
research has established a report and statistics of felony conviction that are significantly less
employable after incarceration (Schmitt and Warner). They have also discovered that felony
convictions that have spent more time in prison have a lower employment prospect of exoffenders. Researchers have found that the numbers are growing in un-employment because of
imprisonment (Schmitt and Warner).
The statistics show 13.9 million ex-offenders without a job (Schmitt and Warner) and 2.3 million
that incarcerated. The criminal justice system want to keep the number of inmates in jail/prison

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low but it really does not help in the long run because after they are released they find it hard to
find a job and then start to break crimes then end up back imprison. This why the statistics show
13.9 million without a job and not adding the remaining 2.3 million that are incarcerated which
lead up to 16.2 million without a job (Schmitt and Warner). The point is it does not matter if
these inmates are incarcerated or released because when they are released they cant even be a
dependent citizen anymore. Ex-offenders have to deal with the barriers of employment and etc.
Ex-offenders are people too, they make mistakes and sometimes make wrong decisions but that
does not mean they cant learn from their mistakes. The criminal justice systems need to
understand what ex-offenders have to face with getting a job. Their needs to be a change in the
criminal justice system like juveniles when they turn eighteen years old their records are not
shown to the public or to employers. But in some cases yes it is important to do a strict
background check depending on what level of degree the employers will hire. If ex-offenders
keep having barriers with employment they will eventually break more crimes to survive. The
majority of inmates break crimes again because they say dont have any other options. As much
as ex-offenders want to stay out of prison they cant because cant get a stable job. The
government and criminal justice system needs to understand that background checks should only
be necessary in some cases like for childcare center or a pharmacy not for ex-offender who wants
to apply to be a bagger or janitor.

Work Cited

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Harlan Chico Inside the maximum- security where inmates try to get a jobs. Washington Post.
June 2015. Web. 18 November 2015
Krannich, Ronald L. Best Jobs for Ex-offender: 101 Opportunities to Jump Start Your New Life,
2009. Print.
Schmitt John, Warner Kris, Ex-offenders and the Labor Market. Working USA 14.1(2011) 87109. 23p. Web.23 Nov. 2015