Published On: 11.23.15 | 

By: John Herr

Economic, political leaders confront ex-convict challenges

Inmates weld at Tutwiler Prison for Women Feature

Even after a felon pays his or her debt to society, the costs — in lost productivity and potential — continue to add up.

That was the challenge confronted at a meeting Nov. 20 organized by the Birmingham Business Alliance at Alabama Power’s Corporate Headquarters.

Mark Crosswhite introduces A Call to Action HERO

Mark Crosswhite, president, chairman and CEO of Alabama Power, introduces A Call to Action. (Birmingham Business Alliance)

“A Call to Action” brought together business leaders and experts from the criminal justice, corrections and public policy fields to discuss reintegrating into society the 12,000 Alabamians released from prison annually.

“It’s important that members of Alabama’s business community consider issues of employment and qualification,” said Mark Crosswhite, president, chairman and CEO of Alabama Power. “There may not be one right answer for everyone, but it just makes good business sense for us to explore the options and the impacts together.”

The backdrop was “Ban the Box,” a nationwide campaign to eliminate the felony checkoff box on employment forms. Checking the box prevents many otherwise qualified men and women from obtaining a job, a key factor in staying out of prison.

Inmates weld at Tutwiler Prison for Women Feature

Inmates weld at Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women. (John Herr/Alabama NewsCenter)

“Employment has been one of the main components that keeps them from slipping,” said Darrell Morgan, assistant executive director of the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles. “There is a large need for these offenders to be able to sustain themselves.”

Convicts who are employed are half as likely to commit another crime as their unemployed peers, reports Justice Quarterly. Limiting those job opportunities costs the nation $57 billion to $65 billion in annual gross domestic product, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

“We’ve learned a lot in this country over the last eight years as to what works,” said Stefan LoBuglio, director of Corrections and Reentry for the Council of State Governments Justice Center. “And employment is one of those components that does work.”

At the same time, skilled positions in many industries in Alabama are going unfilled.

“We have a large skills gap in the construction industry,” said Byron McCain, president of the Construction Education Foundation of Alabama. “We’re not producing at the high school setting what we need as future employees. Where else do we go to look?”

While problems were brought up, so were solutions. Employers noted the advantages of hiring persons who have left the criminal justice system.

“They are more likely to show up early and be ready to work and stay late and go the extra mile, and are open to whatever training you might provide to them,” said Stephanie Mason, Safety director/Human Resources manager of Birmingham’s Dunn Building Company.

“I do find that students who come into our training program from the criminal justice system, they don’t want to go back. They are better students,” added McCain.

Kerri Pruitt, executive director of Alabama’s nonprofit Dannon Project, emphasized the importance of training.

“Life skills, character development, career occupational skills,” she said. “Our follow-up and case management approach is so intensive that we feel like we’re part of the HR department, and so we can reduce the fears of our employers.”

Panelists at A Call to Action event

Panelists at A Call to Action event. (John Herr/Alabama NewsCenter)

Adding urgency is the prison system itself. Alabama has one of the nation’s highest overcrowding rates, with inmates at nearly double design capacity.

State Rep. Mike Jones, a member of the Alabama Prison Reform Task Force, noted that 100 parole officers manage an average of 200 parolees.

In May, Gov. Robert Bentley signed into law a reform package to strengthen community-based supervision and expand prisoner treatment and services. When fully implemented, it’s expected to save the state more than $380 million over six years.

But the meeting’s focus was on the human costs of failing to integrate ex-offenders back into society, and on ways to get them back on track.

“We never really had the resources to actually do the things we needed to do to reduce the recidivism rate,” said Jones. “Now we have that.”