Jamming the revolving door between prison and the streets
More than any other reason, released prisoners end up back in jail because they can’t find dignified work that pays a decent wage. In a move that complements Mayor Ed Gainey’s promising Plan for Peace initiative, city councilman Rev. Ricky Burgess has proposed a partnership that could help to jam that revolving door between prison and the streets.
Mr. Burgess’s proposal would establish a partnership with the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) to provide transitional work for people coming out of prison. Funded by grants, it would be free to Pittsburgh. The program provides a dual benefit to the community: reducing recidivism, and providing labor for important but often-ignored neighborhood upkeep projects. As long as city council does its due diligence, it looks a nobrainer that should be quickly approved.
The centerpiece of CEO’s mission is its transitional work program. The program combines evidencebased approaches with old-fashioned wisdom: Good, hard, handson work that benefits the community gives people a sense of purpose and dignity unlike anything else in life. CEO work teams undertake the kind of community upkeep and beautification projects — clearing overgrown vacant properties, maintaining landscapes like parks and highway medians, picking up litter, and so on — that can fall through the cracks in a large and cashstrapped city.
It’s the kind of demanding work that teaches life lessons and makes it harder to get in trouble again. According to a 2012 study, CEO participants are 22% less likely than others to end up back in prison within three years.
But the program doesn’t stop there. Participants are also eligible for training and resources that will make it easier to secure permanent work.
The bias against previously incarcerated people in hiring is one of the most difficult problems in restoring them to society. States that have “banned the box” — that is, banned employers from asking about criminal records — have found that employers are more likely to filter out Black and Latino candidates to minimize their chance of hiring someone with a record. There’s no way around it: Employers are naturally wary of applicants who’ve spent time behind bars.
Programs like CEO’s help to overcome that by giving released prisoners immediate experience that proves their trustworthiness and their work ethic. Transitional work puts participants’ criminal records farther into the past so that employers see a complete person, not just a high-risk applicant.
The benefits to Pittsburgh are many, and the risks and costs minimal. Mr. Burgess has hit a home run with this plan, and we look forward to seeing CEO work crews around the city in the months and years to come.