National News
Focused help could lower employment barriers for those with criminal records
June 15, 2015 posted by Steve Brownstein
A 51-year-old ex-felon who couldn't find a job wants to start her own business, helping people like her get back into the working world.
And a new state law aims to help, by protecting employers who take a chance and hire people with criminal backgrounds.
Teresa Grahn, an accountant, founded Libertad Group, a Chattanooga nonprofit that will focus on preparing and placing ex-felons in jobs.
"We're trying to bring families back together," Grahn said. "This is one disadvantaged group that is not getting the attention that it deserves."
An estimated 70 million U.S. adults — one in four people of working age — have criminal records, said Michelle Natividad Rodriguez, senior staff attorney with the National Employment Law Project. And a criminal past can be a high hurdle for a job-seeker to surmount.
It certainly was for Grahn. She has 25 years' experience in administrative office work but accumulated more than a year of job rejections after serving two years in prison in 2012 and 2013 for theft.
It was her partner who suggested that there were probably more people like her who had work experience and skill, but couldn't find employment because of their background. So instead of continuing to look for a job, Grahn founded Libertad, which means freedom in Spanish. She has applied for grants and hopes to open her doors this summer.
"The need is obvious," said Tim Dempsey of Chattanooga Endeavors, another nonprofit whose mission is to help felons find jobs so they can stay off the streets. "Everybody needs to work if they want to lead a responsible life."
People with records are disproportionately unemployed and underemployed, he said. Solving that problem means finding felons jobs that pay enough to support a person or a family, not just minimum wage.
That's where the new and little-known law that took effect in January might help.
It allows felons who have stayed out of trouble to apply to a judge for a "certificate of employability" saying they pose no risk to public safety. The law protects employers from claims of negligent hiring, Senate sponsor Brian Kelsey said after the bill passed last year.
"People who have paid their debt to society should be given the opportunity to work," said Kelsey, a Republican from Germantown, Tenn.
"This bill will help prevent future crimes by ensuring these individuals have access to good paying jobs and are not tempted to return to a life of crime."
Taquelia Johnson got jobs after serving jail time, but only part-time, minimum-wage restaurant work that didn't pay enough to support the three children she raises. She thought the certificate of employability would help her get a better job, but none of the employers she talked to had ever heard of it, she said.
"The law exists, but they don't know about the law, nobody, not even people in the judicial system," she said. "I went every where, from the career center to the [Chattanooga/Hamilton County Development] Resource Center. Convicted felons want to do better, but they can't do better if you can only get restaurant jobs not willing to give hours or give the pay."
Johnson finally found full-time employment at Hess and Associates, a third-party recruiting firm.
Other advocates for helping felons find employment continue to push at the local and state level for "ban the box" rules, which would drop the check-off box on job applications asking about criminal histories. Would-be employers could still ask applicants about their backgrounds, but later in the hiring process when job-seekers have had a chance to make an impression on a potential boss.
The local NAACP is working to "ban the box" on Chattanooga government job applications, but the city attorney has said an existing law conflicts with the push, according to NAACP President Dr. Elenora Woods.
"We're still trying to work through it. So it may have to go to a vote for the city in the next election," Woods said.
Grahn said that helping felons find work could elevate the entire city.
"With regard to your past, it's not who you are, it's something you did, something that happened to you. And don't let it define you," she said.
She's created a network of like minded assistants ready to help people get jobs regardless of their background. Her goal is to place five to 10 people a month in a job in her first months of operation.
Greg Miller, owner of Brilliant Paint & Construction, has firsthand experience at having trouble finding a job. After several attempts, the two-time felon and ex-drug dealer started his own business, where he also employs other felons.
"I have a passion for the adversities I see young men go through when they get home from prison, but if we create our own jobs and help each other and employ each other, maybe we can come up," he said earlier.
