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Recovery in the News
County helps ex-cons get work
Jessica Brown
Cincinnati Enquirer
October 29, 2007
Every time Sheila Donaldson Johnson fills out a job application, one question troubles her.
"Have you ever been convicted of a felony?"
It's not because she's not sure of her answer. It's yes. The Evanston woman has been to prison three times on drug-related charges.
But her convictions were 20 years ago. She's a different person now, living a new, drug-free life.
Many companies don't want to take a chance on hiring a convicted felon, she said, which makes it hard for people who are trying to turn their lives around.
A group of Hamilton County leaders wants to make it easier.
The Criminal Justice Commission, a volunteer group of judges, attorneys, law enforcement, elected leaders and county residents, are working to create a "Certificate of Rehabilitation." The certificate would be a diploma, of sorts, that shows an ex-criminal is ready to re-enter the workforce.
"Most of the time the average person who's a felon, they have to fill out 20 to 40 applications before someone takes a chance on them," said Donaldson Johnson, 49. "People toss our applications in the trash cans. Sometimes we're forced to go back to what we know to eat for survival because you're constantly putting in applications and no one will hire you and give you a chance."
The idea of a Certificate of Rehabilitation is still in its infant stages. Details such as what someone must do to earn a certificate are still to be decided.
"We want to create a comprehensive program for people who are serious about putting the past behind them," said Stephen JohnsonGrove, an attorney at the Ohio Justice & Policy Center, a non-profit law firm focusing on criminal justice reform.
The downtown-based organization provides legal services for people with criminal records and research assistance for the Certificate of Rehabilitation project.
In the program, a job-seeker would complete a yet-to-be-determined set of requirements to earn a certificate. It would be given only to those who prove themselves ready to re-enter the workforce. The idea is that the document would encourage potential employers to take a second look at that application.
Will businesses buy into the idea? It's unclear.
The University of Cincinnati, which employs about 15,700 people, said it's difficult to say what impact a Certificate of Rehabilitation would have on hiring.
The university employs people in a wide range of fields such as education, child care, health care, research, law enforcement and entertainment, and the hiring policies might vary, he said.
"There are certain areas where a prior criminal record could be a really big problem, and others where it perhaps would not be," said university spokesman Greg Hand. As for the Certificate of Rehabilitation, "We'd need some specifics on the program and the impact in precise programs within the university."
Skyline Chili said it is always looking for good employees and that it would need to know more about the program before commenting on how influential it might be, according to Becky Ledford of its human resources department.
JOBS HELP AVERT RE-ARRESTS
More than 600,000 people are released from state and federal prisons every year, according to the New York-based Legal Action Center, and nearly two-thirds of them are re-arrested within three years.
In Hamilton County, seven out of every 10 people released from jail re-offend, according to a consultant report on the county's corrections system.
Difficulty getting a job is often a contributing factor, said North College Hill Mayor Dan Brooks, chairman of the committee that led the project.
"Over 70 percent of people go back to prison. That's a big problem. And it's self-defeating," Brooks said. "When people commit a crime, they get into the system, and when they come back out there are obstacles for them to get back out into productive society. The Certificate of Rehabilitation concept ... says here's proof that this person is trying to do the right thing."
EMPLOYERS WONDER WHO'S READY
Many job-readiness, rehabilitation and re-entry programs exist, and employers might be skeptical about how meaningful they are, commission members said.
"I don't think employers really can tell who is ready and who isn't," said County Commissioner David Pepper, who is also on the Criminal Justice Commission. The certificate, because of the work it takes to earn it, would theoretically carry more weight than graduation from any of those programs, he said.
"There are so many programs out there. So we'd be setting up the path. At that point they've earned the trust to re-enter the community."
The Hamilton County certificate would have no legal teeth.
It essentially will be a suggestion to hire, rather than a mandate.
Still, local officials hope the program will become a model for a change in state law.
Six states have laws pertaining to job-readiness certificates, according to the Legal Action Center.
In New York, for example, if a person with a Certificate of Rehabilitation is turned down because of their record, it's job discrimination.
In Ohio, several licensing rules already prohibit ex-criminals from getting certain jobs.
"You can't be an acupuncturist, an anesthesiologist. You can't sell liquor, you may or may not be able to get a commercial driver's license," said JohnsonGrove. For many businesses, the decision on whether to hire someone with a criminal record is a matter of company policy rather than state rules.
'YOU NEED SUPPORT'
Donaldson Johnson eventually caught some breaks.
She earned a cosmetology license in prison and managed to get work answering phones and doing hair in a salon. Now, she's a University of Cincinnati graduate and a paralegal for the Ohio Justice & Policy Center.
"I got tired of the lifestyle of being in the streets and using. That's my story," she said. "It's hard because everyone keeps turning you down. That's why you need support of other people. You have to keep going and don't turn back around.
"They say this is a land of second chances," she said. "The second chance starts when that person is ready to change their lives around. If people keep shutting the door on you, it's very frustrating. It's something that the state and counties need to look at."
Copyright © 2007 The Enquirer. All rights reserved.