![]() ![]() Research has long demonstrated that having a job decreases the likelihood that someone will return to prison-meaning creating and expanding employment opportunities for people with conviction histories actually leads to safer communities. A conviction history is “a perpetual drag on the earning potential of tens of millions of Americans,” the report noted. A study by the Brennan Center for Justice found that people who have been in prison earn half as much as those who have not. Their conviction, even for a minor offense, stays with them, leading to a lifetime of lower wages. One of the biggest hurdles is landing a job, given the stigma and hiring discrimination people with criminal records face.Ī conviction not only makes it harder for someone to find a job, but it also means that when they do, the work is more likely to be temporary, part-time, and low paying. These records often make their and their families’ lives more difficult on multiple fronts-and for years to come. Roughly one in three adults in the United States- more than 70 million people-have criminal records. “So now when I'm home, and I’m able to now employ some of the brilliant folks that are coming out of those cells, it’s such a win.”īut Bullock’s plight securing employment is not uncommon. “I understood that there were amazingly brilliant people there, people who I knew would come home and crush it,” Bullock said. Over the years, he’s hired many other people who were formerly incarcerated. And in 2012, he launched Flikshop, an app that makes it easier for people to send postcards to incarcerated loved ones. A year later, he founded his own painting company. ![]() When Marcus Bullock finally landed a job, it all came down to one question on the application: “Have you been convicted of a felony within the last seven years?” Having been convicted more than eight years ago, he could finally check the “No” box.īullock had already been rejected from more than 40 other jobs because of his conviction history before he started working at a paint store in 2004. People attend a job fair in Detroit, Michigan, with employers who have expanded their hiring practices to include people with conviction histories. ![]()
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