Source: qualitativecriminology.com April 2023 Many individuals convicted of a sexual offense (ICSOs) experience various collateral consequences due to registration requirements, including income loss, unemployment, harassment, social isolation, homelessness, and more. Finding employment post-conviction is a difficult endeavor for many reentering citizens with criminal records, but for ICSOs, the difficulty increases due to their label as sex offenders. When these individuals are unsuccessful in obtaining steady, living-wage employment, it can result in mental health impacts such as depression, hopelessness, and other reactions. This paper seeks to analyze participants’ emotional and mental…
Read MoreTag: Employment
3 Myths About Hiring People with Criminal Records
Source: hbr.org 12/13/2023 Summary. Research suggests that generalized fears about hiring people with a criminal history — such as fear they’ll commit another crime — are tough to square with the facts. An expansion of what’s often called “second-chance” or…Employers are desperate to recruit hundreds of thousands of workers who seemingly have vanished from the workforce. People with criminal histories represent a large pool of labor that could fill the gap. So why aren’t more managers hiring them? We consistently hear of several fears: Fear the person will commit…
Read MoreWA: Convicted Sex Offender Now a Licensed Attorney in Washington State
Source: prisonlegalnews.org 10/15/23 A divided Washington Supreme Court beat back prejudice with a November 2022 decision admitting a convicted sex offender to the state bar. Zachary LeRoy Stevens was charged as a teenager with four counts of sexual exploitation of a minor for sending child pornography to a detective posing as a 14-year-old online. He pleaded guilty to reduced charges of voyeurism in 2012, serving less than a year in jail and on home detention. He was also required to register as a sex offender. Stevens had previously been convicted…
Read MoreCA Senate Judiciary Committee Approves SB 809
Source: ACSOL The Senate Judiciary Committee approved Senate Bill 809 last night by a vote of 8 to 2. The bill will next be heard by the Senate Appropriations Committee on a date to be determined. If passed, Senate Bill 809 would help individuals convicted of a felony to find employment. As currently written, SB 809 includes people convicted of a sex offense. Bill sponsors include Californians for Safety and Justice, Center for Employment Opportunities and Root and Rebound. ACSOL supported this bill both in a formal letter to the…
Read MoreUPDATED on 4/24: Support CA SB 809 by calling in today or tomorrow or showing up
UPDATE 4/26/23: CA Senate Judiciary Committee Approves SB 809 [ACSOL 4/26/23] UPDATE 4/24: The 4/25 hearing for SB 809 is still scheduled! However, when you click here to look at the schedule you will see there are 3 priority “special order” bills that will be heard starting at 9 AM. It is unlikely that they will be finished before the 12-1:30 lunch break, but when those 3 bills are completed then the committee will immediately start on the rest of the bills. As you can see in the list, SB…
Read MoreCA: Adult Re-Entry Annual Resource Fair Oct 20, 2022 near Sacramento
Source: Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE.net) and Sacramento Community Based Coalition Date and time: Thursday, October 20, 2022, 10:00 am to noon Location: Former Mather Air Base, east of Sacramento, near Rancho Cordova Sacramento Community Based Coalition 10170 Missile Way Mather, CV 95655 Free lunch served Services: Employment Education Housing Healthcare Substance Use Treatment Support Services Must be 18 or older For questions contact: The Sacramento Community Based Coalition at 916-228-3377 or Agent Moore at KimberlyR.Moore@cdcr,ca,gov
Read MoreCA: Please tell us your experience working with an America’s Job Center of California to gain employment
Source: Friends Outside of Los Angeles County Friends Outside of Los Angeles County would like to talk with persons who have a sex offense and who are working with an America’s Job Center of California (AJCC) to gain employment. The purpose is to gain information about your job-seeking experience through a 60-75 minute phone or zoom interview. All information is confidential and anonymous. Our overall purpose is to conduct research about promising practices for helping registrants obtain employment. You will be given $500 gift card for your time. Contact Arthur…
Read More‘Staggering’ study reveals 46% of unemployed U.S. men have criminal convictions
Source: science.org 2/18/22 One in three adults in the United States has been arrested at least once, a strikingly high number compared with many other countries. Now, a new study reveals one of the implications of that figure: Nearly half of unemployed U.S. men have a criminal conviction by age 35, which makes it harder to get a job, according to an analysis of survey data. The findings suggest having a criminal justice history is pushing many men to the sidelines of the job market, says sociologist Sarah Esther Lageson…
Read MoreCA: Incarcerated individuals secure state job offers before leaving prison
Source: cdcr.ca.gov 12/13/21 Nearly two dozen incarcerated individuals received conditional job offers during a recent hiring event at California State Prison, Solano. The civil service workshop and hiring event for incarcerated individuals was held November 17. Twenty-three individuals received conditional job offers for employment from the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) before returning to their communities. “This hiring event is successful thanks to multiple state agencies coming together to improve the lives of others,” said CALPIA Acting General Manager Bill Davidson. “CALPIA thrives through partnerships, and it is rewarding to…
Read MoreFood Brands Fight the Background Check
Source: tastecooking.com 9/14/21 A growing number of bakeries, restaurants, and ice cream companies are leading the charge to employ the formerly incarcerated. “It’s the same work I was used to in prison, but the difference is that, in prison, I was working for 10 cents a day.” Alvin Wilson is a 66-year-old baker. Living in New York’s Westchester County with his sister, he’s spent the last seven years mixing brownie batter ingredients and packing the baked result at Greyston Bakery, the organization whose brownies can be found in your favorite…
Read MoreJob openings at CA Friends Outside for registrants in research
Friends Outside will be continuing work with registrants as well as much-needed research. They will prioritize hiring a registrant but they do need to have some related experience/education. The positions will be working at the America’s Job Center in Canoga Park, CA if it is ever safe again to be inside with others, so consider the commute distance you would have. They would like to have someone hired (and, ideally, started) by no later than September 1. Download PDFs of the positions here: Job Announcement Friends Outside Case Manager (Accelerator)…
Read MoreCenter for Employment Opportunities puts you to work while working with you to find full time employment
[Center for Employment Opportunities – ceoworks.org] Are you or a loved one currently on parole or probation? Are they experiencing hardships in finding employment? Center for Employment Opportunities is a nationwide non-profit Workforce Development organization that puts you to work while we work with you to find full time employment. Many of our offices are equipped to work with individuals who are required to register and have been successful in connecting them with employers in the region. To become a participant of our work crews, please contact your case manager or parole…
Read MoreFL, IL, TX: Employment: Do you have a computer and a good internet connection? HomePro is hiring survey reps!
[floridaactioncommittee.org – 1/15/21] [ACSOL disclaimer: Our re-posting of this Florida Action Committee article is only a courtesy to ACSOL readers and not an endorsement. Please do your own research, starting with carefully reading the article and comments on the FAC website] From HomePro Telecommunications: I have immediate openings for part-time Survey Representatives. I started HomePro Telecommunications because I’ve heard from so many people that they simply cannot find work because of their background. This is a great opportunity to get back on your feet. The job involves using your computer…
Read MoreCalifornia Fair Chance Toolkit – A Toolkit for Job Seekers with Criminal Records
[legalaidatwork.org – Nov 2020] Approximately 7 million Californians — nearly one in three adults in California — have an arrest or conviction record. In this toolkit, you will find information about laws in California that protect job seekers with criminal records and sample letters and materials you can use to exercise those rights. Literally thousands of formerly-incarcerated people around California, their family members, and a wide variety of social and racial justice organizations — most notably All of Us or None — worked together to pass the laws discussed in…
Read MoreCA: How to Seek a Job with a Conviction History: A Fair Chance Hiring Webinar on Dec. 3
[prisonerswithchildren.org] How to Seek a Job with a Conviction History: A Fair Chance Hiring Webinar (online) Thursday, December 3 • 5:00 to 6:30 pm (PST) REGISTER HERE Please join us for a step-by-step training in how to take advantage of the Fair Chance Act, which restricts employers from denying jobs on the basis of job applicants’ conviction histories. Speakers: Tawney Jeffries Directly impacted job seeker who successfully got a job under the Fair Chance Act Nicole James Westcare Navigator and directly impacted job seeker Felicia Espinosa Root & Rebound, Fresno Site Director…
Read MoreCA: New California law to make it easier for former inmate firefighters to turn pro
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new bill Friday that will accelerate the process for expunging the felony records of formerly incarcerated volunteer firefighters. The new law is designed to make it far easier for them to earn an emergency medical technician certification, the first step in becoming a professional firefighter in most cities and counties. Full Article From AB 2147: 1203.4b. (a) (1) If a defendant successfully participated in the California Conservation Camp program as an incarcerated individual hand crew member, as determined by the Secretary of the Department of…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: Job Loss Due to the Registry
A recent USA Today inquiry cost a registrant and his company hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal contracts and who knows how many other jobs. The article in its entirety can be read on the ACSOL website “Sex Offender loses Covid-19 Contract at VA Hospital after USA Today ask questions.” The employee’s janitorial firm had had multiple government contracts over the years. There were never any issues with his employment record, he and his company were responsible employees and in good standing with the federal government’s vendor database. He…
Read MoreSex offender loses COVID-19 contract at VA hospital after USA TODAY asks questions
[usatoday.com – 8/11/20] Ezekiel Lopez is a registered child sexual predator in Illinois who spent more than three years in prison for sexually abusing two teenage girls under his care. The conviction was not a barrier between Lopez and more than $700,000 in federal contracts to provide cleaning and janitorial services to help fight COVID-19 at the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital just outside Chicago. No rules specifically prevented it. Government contractors are supposed to indicate on their applications whether they’ve had any felony convictions within the past two years. But Lopez was convicted…
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