Goodwill® Calls on Capitol Hill to Take Action

 

ROCKVILLE, MD — Goodwill Industries International is urging Congress to help people with a criminal background turn their lives around, find work and become productive tax paying members of society. An overwhelming majority of people incarcerated will someday be released. In fact, Bureau of Justice research finds that two-thirds of the 700,000 prison inmates who will be released this year will return to prison within three years —- some for new crimes and others for violating the terms of their parole. Yet, people coming out of prisons and jails are often released without a transition plan, little more than the clothes on their back and a bus ticket home.

Goodwill Industries®, the nation's leading nonprofit provider of job training programs and critical community-based programs, is presenting a white paper to members of Congress in a Capitol Hill briefing today from 12:30 p.m. – 2 p.m. at the Rayburn House Building. The paper will address steps needed to break the cycle of criminal recidivism: The Road to Reintegration: Goodwill Industries' Call to Action to Ensure Successful Re-entry for People Who are Former Offenders. Many independent Goodwill® headquarter agencies run programs that are designed to help people with criminal records find and keep good jobs, and provide help for housing, substance abuse and health and mental health issues.

"Now is the time for this country to consider ways to help people with a criminal history to look forward, not behind," said Jim Gibbons, president and CEO, Goodwill Industries International. "We must invest in our communities by hiring people who have learned from their mistakes and are ready to turn their lives around."

Among those representing Goodwill is Jason of McKeesport, Pennsylvania, a graduate of Goodwill's reintegration program. Jason credits the program in giving him a second chance on life after a youth filled with tragedy, poor decisions and numerous jail sentences. "Now, I'm proud of who I (am)," he says. "I want to work and be productive."

Communities lose an estimated $11.6 billion per year in unrealized potential earnings among the prison population. In addition, we will spend an estimated $15.8 billion annually when those who cannot find employment, end up violating their probation or parole and are put back behind bars. Allowing this cycle to continue is both appalling and costly.

Goodwill is calling on Congress to:

• Improve assistance for employers who hire people with a criminal history,

• Support educational programs and incentives, and

• Fund the Second Chance Act at the highest level.

"For people coming out of prisons and jails, it takes more than a strong desire to be relevant in today's workplace," said Gibbons. "It takes a well integrated system of services, more than one helping hand, and businesses that are willing to hire someone with a criminal background."

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