Ex-Con WORK
A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison".[1] Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con",[2] while a common label for former convicts, especially those recently released from prison, is "ex-con" ("ex-convict"). Persons convicted and sentenced to non-custodial sentences tend not to be described as "convicts".
Ex-Con
The label of "ex-convict" usually has lifelong implications, such as social stigma or reduced opportunities for employment. The federal government of Australia, for instance, will not, in general, employ an ex-convict, while some state and territory governments may limit the time for or before which a former convict may be employed.[citation needed]
Michigan Supreme Court Justice Richard Bernstein, left, and then-candidate Kyra Harris Bolden at a rally in October 2022 in Detroit. Bolden is a new justice on the Michigan Supreme Court and has picked Pete Martel, an ex-convict, as a key aide. Martel has resigned from his position as a clerk for Bolden. Photo by Carlos Osorio/The Associated Press.
According to HUD, broadly using criminal histories to deny the lease, sale or finance of real estate to an individual may lead to a lawsuit or administrative action by HUD. The new guidance is of particular concern for landlords, who often have a responsibility to provide a safe environment for tenants and who may deny leases to ex-convicts as a result.
Some cities and states also offer tax credits and other incentives to employers willing to hire ex-cons and give them a second chance. Philadelphia's Fair Chance Hiring Initiative provides a cash reimbursement to employers who hire felons that have been released from prison within the past five years.
Many employers are apprehensive about hiring felons and look for ways to hedge their risk. They partner with local organizations that work to train ex-cons for jobs and provide other types of rehabilitation services. To find these organizations, state unemployment or workforce development offices can offer referrals.
What Pisciotta didn't expect was that his prison record would affect his wife as well. Robin had her own small business, A1 Administrative Support, that outsourced admin work from other local businesses. Unfortunately she was forced to close her company when the local economy collapsed in 2009. NASA scrapped the space shuttle program in Brevard County, and the knock on effect caused small entrepreneurs like her suffer. She eventually found another job but her employment was short-lived. Robin was fired as soon as management found out about her ex-con husband.
The redemption of this ex-con is just half the puzzle; lots of criminals turn their lives around. But even people who preach giving ex-offenders second chances hesitate to give them that chance with youth. More states are barring ex-cons from working in areas such as foster care and child care. More youth-serving agencies are using computer databases, private services and sex offender registries to check the backgrounds of prospective volunteers and employees.
And because many agencies are finding it increasingly unrealistic to turn away all ex-cons, especially agencies that serve poor, high-crime communities. The growing U.S. prison population stands at 1.8 million, with about 500,000 inmates released every year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Another 4 million are on probation or parole. The issue is especially apt for agencies that are trying to recruit more young African-American men to work with African-American kids: In 1999, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, one of every nine African-American men between age 25 and 29 was in prison.
(Giving them that shot, agency directors and ex-cons say, depends on the ex-offenders disclosing the convictions when they apply. Discovering a conviction on their own can make employers distrust the applicant.) 041b061a72