The Mayor's First Annual Coat Give-Away -- December 2006 at City Hall The Flash Plug-In is required to view this slideshow. It can be downloaded for free, here.
A downloadable powerpoint version of the slideshow is available by clicking here. (16MB)
City Council approves new job creation tax credit, $5000 per new job for hiring ex-offenders
City Council’s Commerce & Economic Development Committee has approved the Ex-Offender Employer Tax Credit Bill introduced by City Councilman At-Large W. Wilson Goode, Jr. last month. The new law will grant a $5,000-per job credit against City business privilege taxes to companies that create new jobs for ex-offenders within the city of Philadelphia . The existing law grants 2% of the annual wages paid, or $1000 per new job created, whichever is higher. The new job must pay at least 150% of the federal minimum wage. The existing program already has commitments for the creation of over 1700 jobs. Councilman Goode said, “By increasing employment opportunities for ex-offenders, we are addressing one of the root causes of crime and violence in our city – economic frustration. Ex-offenders who do not find employment are three times more likely to recidivate into a pattern of criminal behavior. Businesses in Philadelphia need to offer more jobs to ex-offenders, but we should give those businesses a better incentive.”
Finding and maintaining employment and housing are key to a person's safe and successful transition from prison or jail to the community. The list of challenges this population faces when seeking a job and housing is long, and much has been made of the criminal record itself as an obstacle to successful re-entry.
A number of groups, including the National H.I.R.E. Network and the American Bar Association, have advanced different strategies for dealing with the record itself, including expungement (by the individual), use of certificates of rehabilitation, and the creation of time limits on electronic criminal records (by the type of offense).
Here’s what three states are doing
The Arizona Department of Corrections (ADOC) is one example of a state agency that is attempting to help individuals learn how to work with a criminal record in transitional settings. ADOC is developing in-house protocols to prepare people released from ADOC custody to present their accomplishments and respond in a positive, proactive way to questions about their criminal histories from potential employers and landlords. Arizona 's new approach is a part of an overall focus on productivity, accountability and "transition-specific planning" for successful re-entry and reduction in relapse, revocation and recidivism. It includes coordinating pre-employment training with Work-based Education and Arizona Correctional Industries for these inmates and ensuring that each individual leaves prison with a transcript that describes in a comprehensive, positive way the different accomplishments and activities he or she completed while in prison, as well as a more traditional resume.
In Washington State, the Employment Security Department conducts training for employers on how to work effectively with people released from prison in order to facilitate successful re-entry. They hope to facilitate re-entry by educating employers about different types of criminal records; what advantages or incentives exist for hiring offenders; and how risks associated with hiring people with criminal records can be lessened by supervision or by bonding programs that insure employers against theft or other types of loss or damage caused by employees.
The training provides background to employers on types of offenses, the facilities and programs associated with the Washington State Department of Corrections, the process of re-entry itself, and finally protocols for interacting in an interview setting with people released from prison.
In Florida , Gov. Jeb Bush has sought to educate employers about criminal records through a different approach. He recently issued an executive order charging state executive agencies to produce a report on employment restrictions and disqualifications based on criminal records that are under their jurisdiction. Based on findings, executive and other state agencies will be charged to eliminate or modify disqualifications not tailored to protect the public safety, and also to create case-by-case review mechanisms to provide individuals with criminal records the opportunity to make a showing of their rehabilitation and their qualifications for employment. The private sector will also be encouraged to adopt similar reforms. (Click here for more information on the executive order.)
