Excerpt
SUMMARY: Many employers require job applicants to disclose any criminal history, often preventing those with a record from reentering the workforce. But Illinois is one of a number of states working to change this, with a new law prohibiting employers from asking about convictions on initial applications. Special correspondent Brandis Friedman of WTTW reports on the “ban the box” movement.
HARI SREENIVASAN (NewsHour): Now, a move to make it easier for people who have been convicted of a crime to find employment after being released from prison.
Several states and municipalities are preventing employers from asking about criminal convictions up front. The so-called ban the box movement would eliminate a check-box on initial job applications.
Brandis Friedman from our affiliate WTTW in Chicago has this report.
WOMAN: How do I know I can trust you?
BRANDIS FRIEDMAN, WTTW Chicago: It is a question any employer might ask the students in this room. Each of them has a felony conviction and has served time in prison and each of them wants to prove to a future employer that he or she can be trusted.
Twenty-six-year-old Carl Lynch is one of the students receiving job readiness training from the Safer Foundation, a nonprofit that helps released prisoners transition back into society.
CARL LYNCH, Job Seeker: The economy is always changing. Jobs are always getting tougher. And I feel like it’s just preparing me to be ready to reenter into the work force.
BRANDIS FRIEDMAN: Lynch was released from Illinois State Prison in early July after serving two years for breaking into a car with someone inside. He says a new job will help make him the father he once was to his two children.
CARL LYNCH: I want to feel like the provider I was before I left. I know I never can get the time back, but it’s important just for me to be there and let them know that dad’s back.
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