The USA is home to about 5% of the global population yet close to 25% of all prisoners. If you have a felony conviction, there is no doubt you understand the struggle in finding employment. For many people with felonies, jobs are secured not by happenstance but, instead by pursuing advanced education and using untraditional methods in their job search.
Those who are released from a correctional facility receive very little if any preparation and assistance, many are released without their ID’s, which makes their re-entry back into communities difficult. (Visher & Mallik-Kane, 2007). A criminal conviction will limit public housing assistance, employment prospects, and social services.
Finding a job
Almost one in ten people have a felony conviction here in the USA. (33% of the African American male population has a felony conviction. This is why we stand in support of Black Lives Matter and the effort to bring racial equity and an end to racist law enforcement.) With these statistics, there is no wonder why the unemployment rate is so high as many people currently unemployed are probably people with felony convictions.
Getting back into the labor market is a huge challenge that previously convicted folks face upon re-entry. X-felons have great difficulty securing and then keeping employment after their release because employers are pretty reluctant to hire those with a criminal record. Beyond just a criminal record, the felon’s limited education, the ongoing stigma of incarceration that follows them, and a total lack of any employment history feed to limiting their employment opportunities (McGrew & Hanks, 2017). Sadly, most states in the US allow employers to refuse jobs even to individuals who had been arrested but then were never convicted of any crime (Legal Action Center, 2004).
Housing felons
Re-entering felons also face seemingly impossible difficulties in finding and then securing housing. This lack of residential stability leads some to experience homelessness after their release. Here at Joe’s we regularly encounter newly released individuals who are dropped off by an official at an empty lot and told to stay there. Most will leave prison without any money to rent an apartment. Many private rental housing companies have policies specifically against renting to those with criminal records (Cortes & Rogers, 2010). Beyond that, those with a past felony or drug convictions are not eligible for public housing.
Public assistance
Released individuals face barriers to accessing public assistance. Most states ban those with drug felony convictions from qualifying for federally funded food stamps and public assistance (Legal Action Center, 2004). The Federal Welfare Law (1996) prohibits convicted individuals of a drug-related felony from receiving any federally funded cash assistance or food stamps. So even if they have finished their sentence, “paid” for their crime, overcome their own addiction or even earn a certificate of rehabilitation (Legal Action Center, 2004) they find they are not part of programs established to help those who are down on their luck. This only increases the probability that they will go back to drug use and the criminal activity that they got in trouble for the first time.
They only know their old ways.
Unless felons are able somehow to change their worldview while imprisoned, they will leave prison still only knowing one life, and that’s the one that got them behind bars. So many find it much easier to just return to the old ways. It is estimated that 2 out of every 3 prisoners wind up back trouble less than 3 years after their release.
Felons don’t even know where to begin.
Individuals who were convicted when they were minors, yet tried as adults, have very little if any “real-life experience.” Many don't know the basics of life on “the outside.” They don't know how to apply for a job on the internet let alone fold an ironing board, ride mass transit, or just walk down a street without anxiety or fear. I remember one felon, who had just been released after 30 years, sitting at joe’s, with his back to the wall, watching cars go up and down the street. He said, “they drive so fast.” Without practical basic skills, and time to adjust, a felon can find themselves debilitated in this modern world.
"On any given day, nearly 60,000 youth under age 18 are incarcerated in juvenile jails and prisons in the United States. In every state, confining young people – cutting them off from their families, disrupting their educations, and often exposing them to further trauma and violence – harms their development and has lifelong negative consequences." -ACLU
Felons are plagued by feelings of helplessness and suicidal thoughts.
Many released felons suffer not only with the guilt from their crimes, but also have a crushing feeling of hopelessness. The mountains of obstacles that they are immediately confronted with are an impossible burden to bear.
Locked up for 8 years
Melvin comes to us fresh out of prison where he has been locked up for eight years. He is young, too young. The state suspended his sentence and released him on probation, which means he is under supervision and owes regular fees for his probation costs. Gaining employment is difficult. Few companies hire felons, and because Melvin can’t pay rent, he is living on the streets.
Melvin hears about Joe’s Addiction from other folks living outside, and he starts hanging out with us. I am happy to have another African American join our predominantly white community. His toothy smile and cheerful demeanor not only make him pleasant to be around, but his presence also helps bridge racial tensions. He appreciates the food and friends and he helps out, washing dishes, sweeping floors, carrying out trash. He jumps first when something heavy needs carrying. Melvin attends church at Joe’s every Sunday. He likes the music, and he bows his head and folds his hands when we pray.
Burger King
Melvin decides he wants to apply for a job at Burger King. He has heard they might hire felons, and the walking distance is about a mile and a half from his camp. He can manage that. But Melvin has no ID. No birth certificate and no Social Security card. The state releases people from prison and expects them to pay court costs and fines, but gives them nothing to start the process of looking for employment. Identification papers cost money, take time to receive, and one has to know how to apply for them. Prisons in Oklahoma are privately owned. Someone is making money off of housing each inmate. Making it likely for people to go back to prison is “good business.”
The Joe’s Addiction community helps Melvin track down and pay for his papers. Then he goes to Burger King and asks for an application. The manager tells him all applications need to be filled out online and gives him a web address.
Computer illiteracy
Melvin has never heard of such a thing as an online application and he has no access to a computer. I know people reading this might comment that there are computers available for public use at the library. Melvin wouldn’t know this, and even if he did, finding the library would not be an easy task and would mean money for bus fare.
I give Melvin access to our computer at Joe’s to fill out an application and it becomes clear he has no idea what to do. Melvin’s family could never have owned a computer and the inner-city school he attended did not have computers for student use. He looks at the screen with a blank stare.
I sit down at the keyboard and walk him through the long process. He answers the questions, and I type for him. The “test” part of the application takes half an hour to complete. Questions about whether he thinks it is okay to steal from an unfair boss, how he would handle conflicts with fellow employees, and what he would do if he doesn’t know how to do his job. These questions elicit adamant responses from him. He belts out his answers with no doubt in his mind. He does his best, and, at one point comments, “I think their tryna trick me!” He shakes his head and thanks me, saying, “There is no way I coulda done ‘at by myself.”
Red Tape
The next day, Melvin walks back to Burger King, where the manager tells him she has received the application and now there are forms to fill out online so she can hire him. She assigns him a username and password, which he writes down and brings to me. We sit down again to fill out the forms in a list of eight different links. Green check marks appear beside each one we complete. Until we get to the last link. It is a PDF. I know how to download the document, fill in the blanks and save it, but there is no way to upload it back to the website. No green check mark appears. I don’t know what to do.
I suggest he call Burger King to ask the manager. He does and is told she is busy and can’t help him at the moment. The next day he walks again. She tells him she cannot process his application until he completes the online forms. He tells her it doesn’t work, the last part won’t finish. He doesn’t know how to explain the problem to her.
Discouraged, he comes back to Joe’s Addiction, and I am not there. He borrows someone else’s computer, and since he saw me doing it, he thinks he knows how to get back on there and try again. He can’t make it work.
Another day passes and the next time I see Melvin I ask him about his application. He says, “I don’t know what happened, but now the whole thing is missing.” How could that be? I log back in, and sure enough it is gone. This time, I go with Melvin to Burger King. We speak with a nice lady employee. She says the manager is out but gives us some advice about the website.
Back at Joe’s, we try her suggestions to no avail. He calls Burger King again, and the exasperated manager gives him a phone number to call for help with the website. We call. Somehow, Melvin has created a second account. It is an internet/technical mess. After fifteen minutes on the phone, the woman suggests we just start over.
When I hang up the phone, I let out a few choice cuss words. Melvin laughs. “Pastor! Don’t be angry. It’ll be okay.” I sigh, and we start over.
Melvin gets a job
There are even more details, but I will just say it takes us two whole weeks to finish and submit a completed application to Burger King. Melvin grins when he finally comes through the door with the announcement he got the job. He can start whenever he acquires black pants and black, non slip shoes. The community at Joe’s Addiction supplies them. When I say, “the community at Joe’s Addiction,” I mean the folks who hang out and do life together. Many of these people live on next to nothing, but when a need like this arises, they pool their funds and help one another.
Melvin goes to work. He is a good worker. He is punctual. He works hard. He smiles at both customers and bosses who tell him what to do. It is great to have money in his pocket. He is still living outside in a tent, and life is still hard, but he can pay for bus fare to and from his probation meetings, and life starts to feel hopeful. His hope inspires some of the other guys to look for work. Melvin carries himself with pride, and his joy brings life to our little community.
About two months into his new employment, Melvin wakes up late on a Saturday morning. He looks at the time. He is going to be late for work. He feels awful. He remembers when he went to sleep last night, he wasn’t feeling so good. Now, his body aches, his head hurts, and he is pretty sure he has a fever. He is supposed to be at work in ten minutes.
He calls Burger King and tells the manager he is sick. He says, “I can still make it there if you want me to. I’ll be a little late, but I don’t know if you want me to come. I’m really sick, and I think I have a fever.” The manager replies, “Don’t bother to come in. I told you when I hired you if you were going to miss a shift for any reason you need to call at least two hours ahead, so we have time to find somebody else. You didn’t do that. So don’t bother coming back at all.”
Despair
I watch as Melvin descends into the darkness of depression. Several times I offer to help him with another application, but Melvin just shrugs. He says, “It’s not worth it.” His probation officer becomes angry with him because he isn’t paying his fees. She puts extra restrictions on him and tells him to get a job, or she will send him back to prison. He quits going to the meetings.
He comes to Joe’s Addiction less frequently, and we miss him. When I ask the other guys in the camp about him, they fill me in. He has started using drugs and is running with some bad dudes. The last time I see Melvin, I ask him, “What’s going on, man? What are you doing?” He says, “I don’t know. It’s just stupid. I don’t give a shit. They can come get me if they want me.” And “they” do. The police arrest Melvin as he is walking down the street one night. He is back in prison where he will sit for more years.
I did not know Melvin when he committed his original crime. I do know he was twenty-two when he was convicted. How many of us did stupid stuff when we were young adults? I am not excusing Melvin’s behavior. I believe we should hold people accountable, and we must keep society safe from future harm. But I also know Melvin was a child when I met him. He had never grown up. He didn’t know how to do adult life. Who knows what Melvin’s parents did or did not teach him? Melvin spent eight years in prison. Then the conditions of his “life on the outside” made it impossible for him to succeed.
Sometimes the hole of despair is just too deep. Hope cannot reach that low, or maybe a person cannot hold on to the edge of Hope from inside the crater of despair. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “It is a cruel injustice to tell a bootless man to pull himself up by his bootstraps.” Dr. King also inspired us with a dream, but we are still so far from his dream being fulfilled.
What can we do to help:
Life beyond prison does not need to be a life sentenced of failure. If you want to get involved and help those who are newly released you can choose to help an individual or even start a career that is focused on assisting humans get back on their feet.
Often human services professionals work together with government agencies and nonprofits, like Joe’s addiction to assist former offenders become established on the outside. Parole and probation officers are on the front lines and We have seen many great officers that work hard to see individuals successfully reforming their lives.
Felons once released need help:
Finding and keeping suitable accommodation
Finding and keeping employment
Managing their finances
Developing positive community relationships
Accessing health care
Positive reinforcement and encouragement