Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com February 16, 2015 • Hartford Business Journal 15 Re-entry barriers says Maureen Price Borland, who runs Hartford's Community Partners In Action, a nonprofit support agency for ex-offenders and others. "We look to punish folks for their crimes, but they aren't (in prison) forever.'' Gov. Dannel P. Malloy lately has tra- versed the state, touting the merits of his "Second Chance'' initiative as an alterna- tive to continuing to invest huge sums to house, feed, treat medically and guard con- victs, and prosecuting re-offenders. His proposals include reclassifying certain nonviolent offenses as misdemean- ors and eliminating mandatory minimum sentences for drug possession, but also expanding a post-prison employment pro- gram that provides ex-convicts vocational skills training and adult basic education. Steps Malloy has outlined in his initia- tive collectively would build on a host of existing state, federal and nonprofit-funded programs meant to elevate a downtrodden segment of society into productiveness, advocate say. By doing so, the state can cut costs by curbing the volume of parol- ees who, outside prison encounter closed doors to employment and shelter, reoffend and return to prison. Ex-offenders also offer an extra pool of labor just as the state and national economies are expanding. Time has arrived to reorient the focus on ex- offenders as drags on society and the economy to one that values them as potential contribu- tors to the well-being of both, advocates say. "We've been saying for several years there's a need to change the way we do prison reform in Connecticut,'' said Pete Gioia, economist for the Connecticut Business & Industry Associa- tion, the state's leading employer lobby. High costs and barriers It costs Connecticut about $50,000 — tuition for a year of college — to care for each of its approximately 13,500 male and female inmates annually, authorities say. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Connecticut in 2007 spent the equivalent of $686 for every child, woman and man in the state to mete out justice to all lawbreakers. Another $189 per capita was spent that year to shelter, feed and guard the ones whose offenses warranted prison time. Why not, advocates say, invest some of that prison budget into programs that help ex-offenders transition successfully outside jail into steady earners who make enough to pay taxes and support their families. A broad gauntlet of nonprofit support agencies in the Hartford region and the state's other urban centers exist to level the playing field for ex-offenders. They include The Open Hearth, which provides ex-cons with transitional housing, vocational train- ing, among other support services; and Com- munity Partners In Action, and Our Piece Of The Pie, all three in Hartford. In Bridgeport, nonprofit Career Resources Inc. oversees all of Connecticut's STRIVE programs, a jobs acquisition-retention model for ex-offenders and other underserved residents. Community Partners In Action pro- motes alternatives to incarceration for non-violent offenders through live-in and non-residential support programs, Borland, the agency's executive direc- tor said. Presently, Community Partners has a $1 million federal labor department grant to team with other agencies to train and place 125 ex-offenders in med- ical-bill coding, construction and certain environmental-related trades, she said. The rate at which Community Partners' ex-offenders land back in prison has fallen steadily with the advent of these and other programs, Borland said. Hartford's Our Piece Of The Pie says it places 200 to 250 ex-offenders into job internships annually, with the nonprofit paying each a salary. Typically, interns wind up with permanent jobs where they were, said Our Piece opera- tions chief Hector Rivera. Our Piece's recidivism rate is one out of every four or five in its programs vs. the statewide recidivism average of more than four in 10, Rivera said. "Introduction to the legal system is not a death sentence,'' Rivera said, "when it comes to individuals who have the drive and motivation to want to be able to change and impact their lives …'' The nexus in this region for these and other support programs is the Hartford Foun- dation For Public Giving, in its role as public steward of donations from individual and cor- porate donors, foundations and endowments. Judy McBride is a former federal Department of Justice official who is the foundation's senior program officer. from page 1 These employers say race still rates in hiring ex-cons By Gregory Seay gseay@HartfordBusiness.com R ochelle and Rollo W. Jones Sr., own- ers of Capital Masonry in Hartford, are fervent that men and women with past run-ins with the law should have a second chance in life, starting with a good job. So much so, they convinced the city, in collaboration with Capital Workforce Part- ners' Hartford Jobs Funnel initiative, to con- tract with them to teach masonry skills last summer to 15 ex-convicts while satisfying the city's need to repair or install sidewalks in the city's North End. They say they have been paid to conduct similar training pro- grams for the unemployed and underem- ployed, including ex-offenders, since 2008. The Joneses' applaud the governor's promotion of "Second Chance'' initiatives that, among other things, urges all Con- necticut employers and housing providers to help ex-offenders productively reinte- grate into society. But blunt-talking Jones Sr., a bear of a man who built his business with his bare hands, and Rochelle Jones, a former teacher and assistant principal in Hartford's school system, aren't ones for mincing words. Hir- ing "re-entrants,'' they say, also is a race issue. Such reform initiatives would stand better chances, they say, if race was fully acknowledged as the 800-pound gorilla in the room everyone pretends not to notice. It's a pattern the Joneses say they've seen all too often in and around Hartford, and the chief reason they're skeptical about the latest pitch to help ex-offenders find meaningful work. Most employers couch their reluc- tance, Jones Sr. says, about hiring former prisoners amid concerns for the safety of their customers and employees. "I don't see it as much as they're ex-con- victs,'' Jones Sr. said, "as much as they're black and Hispanic.'' Hartford City Council President Shawn T. Wooden keynoted the City Hall gradua- tion ceremony last June for the 15 Job Fun- nel graduates, all but two of whom now work construction. Wooden describes the Joneses as "passionate and persistent about a program that did training and mentoring,'' adding he sees the Jobs Funnel-Capital Masonry training partnership as a state model. "It can be replicated and expanded to other trades, to other industries,'' said Wooden, an attorney. "Government has to be a partner in incentivizing the private sec- tor to engage and perform their business in a way that promotes the public good.'' The Joneses say they have a blueprint for interacting with their interns, even those who think the married duo might be pushovers. "I tell 'em as soon as they walk through the door, 'This is my house. I'm not afraid of none of you,'" Jones Sr. said. "This is my wife and this is [our office assistant] and you will respect them.'' Rochelle Jones, who has a doctorate in education and was a Weaver High assistant principal, is Capital Masonry's president. While Jones Sr. taught masonry skills to the program's 15 participants, who drew $100 weekly stipends if they didn't miss class and were on time to learn, Rochelle Jones imparted such job and "life skills'' as proper construction attire and industry lingo; the importance of being on time; even tips on how to nonviolently defuse tense work situations. "Construction is a different mindset,'' she said. "You have to work with people you may not like, side by side.'' Laborers, she said, earn as much as $44 an hour in a prevailing-wage and union job; bricklayers draw as much as $60 an hour. Perry Johnson, 40, served three years in Connecticut prison for manslaughter. Frustrated at being repeatedly turned away from jobs because of his record, the Hart- ford native eventually found steady work as a janitor for a private cleaning service. Eventually, he found his way into the city Jobs Funnel construction-training partnership with the Joneses and gradu- ated from the program last June. Today, he works for Capital Masonry. "I was taught that if you're going to suc- ceed in this world, you're going to have to work,'' said the married father of two. "By me being able to get this second chance, it really did change my life because I can go forward the right way.'' n Softer landing Connecticut's nonprofit and employment communities have these suggestions for improving ex-offenders' re-entry into the work and social world: Ban the box — Requiring parolees or others convicted of crimes to check off a box or otherwise publicly declare their criminal histories is unfair. "It's the new scarlett letter,'' said Scott Wilderman, president/CEO of Career Resources Inc. in Bridgeport. Indeed, an applicant's criminal background should only be a factor once an employer opts to hire him, advocates say. Employability certificates — The Connecticut Sentencing Commission has recommended issuing these to eligible parolees as a means of boosting their job opportunities, says commission member John Santa, a Fairfield County businessman. The certification would take into account such factors as the individual's criminal and prison record, education, skills and a demonstrated willingness and ability to transition positively back into society. Tax credits — Their value as incentives is limited, experts say, because many small operators who could benefit are put off by all the paperwork and red tape. Conversely, large employers find the credits too small to be worthwhile. Ex-offenders you know? — Often, experts say, they are neighbors, friends, relatives who got busted for driving intoxicated, shoplifting, or some other crime for which no prison time was meted out or their names weren't plastered all over a newspaper. Some ex-offenders say people are shocked and admit they had no clue when they admit their history to them. So, if a person is qualified to do a job, and does it to standards or better, what difference should a prison record make in hiring or retaining them in the job. — Gregory Seay Rollo Jones Sr., left, and wife Rochelle Jones, owners of Capital Masonry Inc. in Hartford. Ex-offender Perry Johnson, right, is their employee. P H O T O | P a b l O R O b l e s Continued

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