Iowa Employers Need Help Overcoming Stigma of Hiring Ex-Offenders

Each day ex-offenders fill out job applications that end up in trash cans and they wait on calls for interviews that will never come. Helping employers overcome the stigma of hiring people with criminal records provides ex-offenders with the best remedy against returning to prison — employment.

That’s what an advocate from the Chicago-based Safer Foundation, which serves 9,000 ex-offenders annually, told more than 40 hiring managers at a meeting this week organized by the Diversity Committee of the Society of Human Resource Management in Des Moines.

“When a person with a record comes in and checks the box, the application in most cases is discarded and that person is not looked at as a human being,” said Anthony Lowery, the foundation’s director of policy and advocacy during the meeting at Iowa Workforce Development. “The person is looked at as the box. If you check the box, you have no opportunity for employment.”

State officials from Iowa Workforce Development, other departments and Iowa Legislators are looking for ways to lower the disproportionate number of African-Americans in Iowa prisons and fill Iowa’s skilled worker shortage. Iowa has turned to Illinois for help in creating a certificate program that would assure employers that ex-offenders have made positive changes and are good hiring risks. Studies have found that employers are most reluctant to hire black men with criminal records of all applicants, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Nearly a third of the country’s population — 100 million people — has a criminal record of some kind that will be found during commonly used employment background checks, Lowery said.

“People with criminal records, because of discriminatory practices that take place in some areas, are reduced to a . . . third class,” Lowery said. “Many employers are not going to take the chance on anyone who has a record.”

But, studies show recidivism rates plummet when ex-offenders remain working, Lowery said.

Not every employer considers hiring ex-offenders too risky. Mark McGrath, Human Resources Manager at Alcan Packaging in Des Moines, said he hired more than 40 people last year with criminal records. Their crimes included willful injury, armed with intent, carrying a concealed weapon with intent, assault and harassment, he said.

“If they have basic skills and present themselves well, are candid during the interview process and have the requisite skills,” he said, “I will take a chance on them.”

The non-profit Safer Foundation was created in 1972 and provides extensive job training and services for ex-offenders in and out of prison. The foundation, which also serves eastern Iowa communities, links ex-offenders with employers. Lowery touted Illinois’ Certificate of Good Conduct and Certificate of Relief from Disabilities. Ex-offenders can apply for the certificates, which can be given to employers as proof they have received job training and treatment, among other things. The foundation is providing technical assistance to Iowa officials who are considering a similar measure proposed by State Representatives Ako Abdul-Samad and Wayne Ford, both Democrats from Des Moines.

“Don’t construe any of this as being soft on crime,” Lowery said. “I want to be protected just as any other American wants to be protected, but we have to be smart on crime.”

Anthony Lowery of the Safer Foundation

Some meeting participants worried their companies could be held liable if an ex-offender committed a crime while on the job, which is a common concern, Lowery said.

“If I knowingly hire a person with a criminal record and he does something crazy on the job and someone gets hurt, I may lose everything,” he said. “So it’s a legitimate concern.”

Employers can be protected from the criminal acts of their employees through federal bonding programs or liability insurance, Lowery said. Also, employers have a financial incentive to hire ex-offenders in the form of a $2,400 federal tax credit, he said.

Getting a Foot in the Door

The biggest hurdle for job applicants is getting past the application process. In Chicago, initial job applications don’t contain questions about a person’s criminal record, Lowery said.

“No one is trying to design stuff to hide the record,” he said. “Employers need to know what type of person you’re bringing in, but we’re looking at giving a person an opportunity to go through an individual determination and to be looked at as a human being.”

Burton Maroney, supervising U.S. Probation/Pretrial Services Officer in Southern District Court, said employers can get valuable information about job applicants from their parole and probation officers. He said 38,000 people in Iowa are under correctional supervision.

“Probation officers are here in the community to talk to you,” he said. After signed releases, the officers can “talk to you freely about their background, what kind of treatment they’re in, if they’re urine-tested, going through drug treatment and what are the services they’ve had while in custody.”

He urged participants to provide employment opportunities to ex-offenders. A job fair primarily for ex-offenders will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Feb. 28 at the Polk County Convention Complex.

“These are human beings,” he said. “They are not cars that we can take out to the lot and junk and throw away. These are human beings that have parents, have children. They are fathers, mothers and brothers. They live in our communities. They share our schools. Our restaurants. Our stores.”

However, hiring ex-offenders isn’t trouble-free, McGrath cautioned. He still has concerns about hiring people who have had drug convictions, he said.

“If you get those people in the workplace, they can substantially change, in my opinion, the culture of the workplace if they continue with that behavior,” he said.

He said he also noticed during job interviews that younger ex-offenders had a “gangster” or “thug” attitude in their appearance and in the way they conducted themselves. They also lacked basic skills and had attendance and punctuality issues, he said. Alcan’s policy calls for termination if an employee is late or absent during the 45-day probationary period, he said. Many jobs start at $12 an hour, he said.

“That’s a real issue of people that have been convicted,” he said. “They just don’t have that sense of reporting to work with regularity and punctuality.”

Elaine Bales, a community treatment coordinator with the Fifth Judicial District, also spoke at Tuesday’s meeting about the criminal records available to the public on Iowa Courts Online.