Transitioning back into the community after serving time presents all kind of hardships before an offender is even released. There is the worry of not having anywhere to live. Family relationships may be strained due to distance and no communication while serving time or the family may simply want to not have anything to do with the inmate because of the stigma that society places on ex-offenders. In our present tight economy the last thing some families want to hear is that their relative is getting ready to be released from prison and will have to depend on them for shelter and food as they have no other means to support themselves. Offenders convicted of certain crimes, certain drug-related offenses or sex offenses, are permanently barred from living in federally funded public housing. Since private landlords are allowed to discriminate against an individual with a criminal record, options are limited about where an ex-offender may go. For the ex-offender add to that the frustration of no job and no hopes of getting a job due to lack of work experience and laws against employers hiring ex-offenders.
Well let us put ourselves in the ex-offenders shoes for a minute. A great portion of society has always looked at those that have committed a crime as horrible, inhumane individuals that do not deserve a second chance. All of us at some point in our lives have made mistakes that we deeply regret, however most of those mistakes would not warrant jail time. How many of us have used paper or the copier machine at our place of work for our personal use. Is this not stealing? Not to the extent that you went into a store and took something of value without paying for it but it is still stealing. It is almost like when people get caught telling a lie and they say, well it was just a little white lie. A lie is a lie; you cannot add or take from it. Most of us have never been in a position where we were unable to feed our families and did not know where the money to pay our bills would come from. By no means am I advocating drug trafficking as a means of support but when faced with no other options, sadly a lot of men and women resort to such measures. I am merely attempting to get you to look at the situation from the offenders standpoint. For those of us fortunate enough to have significant work experience and some kind of educational degree think back to that period in your life when you were in a frantic search for a job. You may have found out the company you were working for was downsizing, you were fired, or moved to a new area. Can you remember how frustrating it was when you would submit countless resumes, attend job fairs and fill out applications and never got a call back? Well, that feeling of disappointment and frustration has to be magnified 10 times for an ex-offender.
Maryland, among other states, has 26 laws that say beware of these people, statutes that either bar employment because of a persons criminal record or require a background check. The laws requiring background checks are equally problematic for ex-offenders. They do not say hire or do not hire, but employers are very hesitant to hire if anything negative shows up on the report. Ex-offenders are limited to certain categories of jobs; unfortunately, those are the categories where there are not enough jobs available. Even if they are able to find employment, it usually does not pay a living wage, so again, they are back to the point where they cannot afford their own housing and reliable transportation. For the ex-offender, this is all one big cycle of defeat. The next time you hear about prisoner reentry, I ask you to view ex-offenders not as criminals that deserve to be written off by society. Instead, view them as those that have made a mistake, served the just penalty, and are seeking to transition back into society with the same privileges to function as law-abiding, family-oriented citizens seeking to make their mark in the world.
0 comments