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Due to recent layoff's I've found myself with more time getting to know my neighbors. Needless to say some I might have been better off not getting to know, but others, have left a long lasting impression on me. Just when I started to feel sad about my situation, I realized that there were others whose situations were far worse.
One morning, while preparing to pound the pavement for new work, a neighbor was having car trouble and needed a jump. Since I had the plug in battery thingy (or whatever it's called.. I didn't buy it) I let him use it. While waiting for his car to start, we engage in a conversation about the economy, lack of jobs etc....and he mentioned that him having a felony (theft and battery) made things even harder for him to find work. Now I had heard stories about men who were unable to find work after serving time in prison, but honestly I just thought it was more about them not really wanting to find work! This man (and his wife) have 3 kids and have always been kind and decent (from what I've seen) people so of course I offer to share with him any information I come across, hoping to help in some way.
What I didn't know was how hard it would be to help! I'm registered with a few agencies myself and was shocked at how many simply have a zero tolerance for hiring felons. Before having gotten to know my neighbors I probably would have taken the "that's what they get" stance but when I see what appears to be a good guy facing what appears to be discrimination, it breaks my heart! It has to be hard living off of one income, especially when you have kids!
How does felons find work after they serve their time?
Violent felons have a very hard time finding jobs and often end up working for family or a family friend or in labor type jobs. White collar felons usually find it a bit easier, and depending on how well connected they are can often find work within thier network.
The last company I worked for had a case-by-case policy. We wouldn't hire anyone who had been convicted of a violent crime, end of story. We did have a few felons who had gone to jail for drugs and rehabilitated themselves. They agreed to regular but random and with zero notice drug screening and we never had one fail.
That so bull**** that a company won't hire a violent felon. I just punched someone ONCE because I was paranoid and being followed around and harassed. I still have gotten good jobs at good companies that didn't check if you had a felony. But one company, Schlumberger - I had to lie that I didn't have one and the recruiter for me lied too. So sometimes you just gotta lie... Because companies too unfairly discriminate against felons.
There are even online websites for felons to get a job but they are useless as I think companies just use them to blacklist felon applicants and never hire from there... So I don't even touch these job listings.
I go nationwide for job hunts, but right now I just focused on a job in Houston then in Chicago only after I moved. I'm gonna write my IL Gov for a Pardon of my felony and get my Psychiatrist and Priest to pitch in for me...
In some places, like Houston - a felon can't even get a good Apt because almost all Apt complexes do background checks.
The felons I know (2, to be exact) have jobs working at wineries under the table. In fact, the both of them make about 3000 a month each and they don't have to pay taxes.
I also think it needs to depend on the age as well.
We have all done stupid things between the age of 18 and 25. Some of us smoked pot when we were younger, some made the stupid mistake of a five fingered discount and for others it might have been stupid vandalism.
I believe some crimes, as long as they didn't involve weapons or violence, need to be expunged after a few years to help young offenders get back on track realizing the 35 year old man with a family you see before you today is ot the same man he was 12 years before.
But the way it is it is really, really tough. If convicted of a felony my advice would be to learn a trade, car repair for example, and start his own business.
I also think it needs to depend on the age as well.
We have all done stupid things between the age of 18 and 25. Some of us smoked pot when we were younger, some made the stupid mistake of a five fingered discount and for others it might have been stupid vandalism.
I believe some crimes, as long as they didn't involve weapons or violence, need to be expunged after a few years to help young offenders get back on track realizing the 35 year old man with a family you see before you today is ot the same man he was 12 years before.
But the way it is it is really, really tough. If convicted of a felony my advice would be to learn a trade, car repair for example, and start his own business.
Most of those wouldn't result in felonies. Pot smoking isn't even a crime in most states. Five finger discount for cheap items--most stores don't even prosecute under a certain dollar threshhold. And unless the person totally trashed something, minor vandalism is seldom more than a misdemeanor.
I do agree with your advice to learn a trade and become self-employed.
Most of those wouldn't result in felonies. Pot smoking isn't even a crime in most states. Five finger discount for cheap items--most stores don't even prosecute under a certain dollar threshhold. And unless the person totally trashed something, minor vandalism is seldom more than a misdemeanor.
I do agree with your advice to learn a trade and become self-employed.
Pot smoking, in my younger days in some areas of the country it was a felony. I am older, think back to the days of Reefer Madness. Good Gawd, google has the entire movie online!
basically more compnaie are being mroe careful has they are being held civilally responsible for what their empoyee do.Blame the trail lawyers for this as they love to sue the company for what the individaul does because they alwasy follow the money.
If my employer hired a guy that had committed a violent crime in the past, and then I became a victim of additional violence because he snapped one day because he didn't like the fact that my stapler was red and his was black, you bet your butt I'd sue both him and the employer who failed to take a reasonable stadard of care in the hiring process.
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