On Monday, President Obama announced new regulations to help curb hiring and housing bias against ex-cons.
In a huge step forward for criminal justice reform, Obama announced a series of measures, including housing assistance and educational grants, in hopes of curbing an inmate’s chances of reentry to prison.
The Department of Education, according to The Atlantic, has allocated $8 million over three years to fund new programs aimed at teaching inmates skills to help them reenter society.
Beyond allocating resources to inmates, Obama is also throwing his support behind the “ban the box” movement.
The movement aims to eliminate the box on all job forms asking if the applicant has a criminal record. Obama is now hoping the federal government will remove the box from its hiring forms to set an example.
In July, Obama visited several federal prisons where he told inmates,
If the disclosure of a criminal record happens later in a job application process, you’re more likely to be hired … If they have a chance to at least meet you, you’re able to talk to them about your life, what you’ve done, maybe they give you a chance.
And this little box may be just the thing men and women need when attempting to reintegrate into the workforce.
According to the Justice Department, 60 to 75 percent of former inmates cannot find work within the first year out of jail.
That checked box can also reduce an employer’s interest in an applicant by about 50 percent, NBC News reported.
Luckily, it appears Obama has support from both sides of the aisle. Over 100 cities and 19 states have already banned the box, with more to come in 2016.
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