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Dauphin County may ban asking about criminal backgrounds in some hiring
Dauphin County could become the second county in the state to eliminate a question about prior criminal convictions on some county job applications.
The commissioners are considering the "ban the box" change, which would give formerly incarcerated applicants the chance to get farther in the application process.
Jack Wright, county grants and human services development fund manager, said the change would give qualified former offenders the chance to progress to an in-person interview before having their application discarded due to their past offense.
Background checks would continue to be done on all employees before hiring, Wright said.
Allegheny County was the first county in Pennsylvania to take this action, and hopefully Dauphin County will be the second, said David Black, executive director of the Harrisburg Regional Chamber and CREDC.
"It removes that initial stigma as you're looking through a stack of applications that you don't automatically set those aside," Black said. "It's a first step to getting folks back on the right track and offering them a chance to come in for an interview."
Victor Parziale, a program supervisor for DrugFree Workplace PA, said he is a former offender who served time and paid his dues. When he applied for jobs after that, "As soon as I checked that box they threw me out of the system. I didn't have a chance to present who I was, what I did."
Stan Lawson, president of the NAACP in the Harrisburg region, said the change "is going to save this state millions of dollars if they do the right thing."
"The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will build more prisons but they won't build more schools," Lawson said. "This offers them the opportunity to rebuild themselves," Lawson said, rather than get caught in a revolving door of crime.
If people are homeless or hungry, Lawson said they may turn to crime. "People have to eat, they have to pay their bills. Give them a second chance."
The city of Harrisburg approved taking the box off its applications, Lawson said.
Jeff Haste, chairman of the commissioners, said he supports the change, but added he doesn't want to give all offenders false hope that the box won't exist on some applications.
"The key thing is folks understand this is not going to ease the requirement in those areas where it is required," he said, such as in jobs working with youth.
"For those this can help, I think it's our obligation to help them to change their lives," Haste said.
Commissioner George Hartwick also supports the change. "This is a natural step to return former offenders into providers," Hartwick said. "If you have a history, it doesn't mean you can't change your future."
This isn't giving more opportunities to offenders than others, Hartwick added. "We not being soft here," he said. "We are providing a pathway for people who made mistakes to finding employment."
National employers including Wal-Mart and Target have removed this question from applications, Black said. Many employers continue to have the box on their applications simply because the forms are outdated, he added.
The largest Pennsylvania cities and counties that have "banned the box" in the state are Allegheny County, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Lancaster, Allentown and Reading, Wright said. A total of 18 states and 100 cities nationwide have taken this action, he added.
Faye Fisher, county human services director, is compiling a list of departments with jobs from which "ban the box" would be precluded.
The commissioners will vote on whether to adopt the change at a future meeting.
David Black, executive director of the Harrisburg Regional Chamber and CREDC, said the benefit could be lower crime rate, as former offenders obtain meaningful, family-supporting jobs.
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