Businesses, communities, and individuals all must do their part to ensure that people who are leaving prison have the tools they need to succeed upon release, Koch Industries Senior Vice President and General Counsel Mark Holden wrote in a new op-ed for The Crime Report.
While last year’s FIRST STEP Act represented a profound development in federal criminal justice reform, there are still many areas to eliminate barriers to opportunity for all—including qualified job applicants who are seeking a second chance. Koch Industries regularly hires qualified candidates with criminal records and recently signed the Getting Talent Back to Work Pledge with the Society for Human Resource Management.
“Businesses can help transform lives and enable people to contribute to their communities by hiring qualified candidates with criminal records,” Holden wrote.
Here are three broad areas that businesses, communities, and policymakers can prioritize moving forward:
- Making sentencing changes retroactive
- Removing jobs, housing, and educational barriers for people with criminal records who have served their time
- Training returning citizens in employable skills
Read the full op-ed at The Crime Report.