Equal Opportunity for ex-Inmates

When we begin a discussion about Equal Opportunity laws in this country, we have a tendency to jump right towards race. Equal Opportunity laws, however, protect all types of different classification of individuals in this country, including race, age, gender, and religion. Now, a new directive has been introduced, directive 306 for those of you keeping score, to protect a new group of individuals in America’s workforce, criminals. The Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program announced its nondiscrimination obligations related to federal contractors this January.

As important as this directive is, there needs to be some exceptions to this rule. Obviously, we cannot have recently released drug offenders working in our pharmacies or violent offenders being placed in a situation where they are once again open to engage in violence. These aren’t strict rules; these are part of their recovery. On the other hand, we have a serious unemployment problem among the released offender population that creates a “collateral cost” for the rest of our society. Having released inmates in our workforce is beneficial to our economy, and, in this instance, more importantly, our recidivism rates.

The way we treat individuals in this country who have already served their time is atrocious. In many cases we are actually forcing ex-inmates back into a life of crime as opposed to helping them get back on their feet. So instead of helping them get a job where they will pay taxes, we are sending them back to jail or prison and paying more for them than they would probably be making at the minimum wage job we deemed “acceptable” for an ex-inmate. If this makes sense to you, please, explain it to me. 

And it’s not like this is a small population we are talking about here. Incarcerated and ex-incarcerated individuals constitute the largest minority in this country to date, so large, in fact, I hesitate to even refer to them as a minority.

I do not see this directive making too much of a literal impact since it only applies to businesses that are contracted in any way by the federal government. I do, however, believe, or at least hope, that it will lead to further, stronger, initiatives for this population.

 

LH