A recent report from the Public Policy Institute of California found that many convicted felons in Californians struggle to find and keep jobs after release, highlighting employment as a major barrier to successful reentry.
On Thursday, the Public Policy Institute of California, where policymakers have long sought to promote employment among released prisoners through policies and programs that reduce incarceration and broaden access to the labor market, held a webinar covering their policy brief on “Employment Before, During, and After Prison in California.”
Heather Harris, a research fellow at the Public Policy Institute, led the virtual event and presented findings from the institute’s recent report and answered questions from the audience.
“The idea here is that if finding and keeping a job after prison can reduce criminal behavior — policymakers need to know what promotes employment after prison,” Harris said.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation partnered with the institute in their research efforts, offering information on people that were released from California prisons between 2015 and 2019, including the jobs they held before prison and the jobs they held after release.
The institute also retrieved data from the California Department of Justice to aid their estimation of how much incarceration contributes to unemployment. Harris explained that nearly half– 45% of people were unemployed the four years before prison, during prison and the four years after. About 22% had only worked while in prison, and 23% of people had never worked. Inmates were always less likely to be employed after being released from prison.
However, people that were self-employed or participated in gig-work or under the table arrangements were not included in this data.
“Because people with criminal records are often challenged in the labor market, many of them do work under the table,” said Harris. “This is especially true in California.”
According to Harris, this is because California has twice as many regulations as the national average that create barriers to employment for people with criminal records.
Even when people are employed after their release from prison, it is mostly in low-wage industries that demand “low-skill” training, the study found.
“And We see a pretty deep dependence on temporary work…that gets deeper after prison,” said Harris.
Men were found to be more reliant on temporary work than women. Very few released prisoners earned above that poverty threshold in any year.
One positive program involves inmates who are trained to become firefighters.
“California’s released prisoners also have opportunities to become camp firefighters,” said Harris, adding that most of these jobs require high skills. “It sets California apart from other state prison systems.”
In addition, people that received training or partook in any job skills program while in prison were more likely to be employed post-incarceration.
And when addressing what the state can do to combat these issues, Harris suggested incentivizing employers to hire people with criminal records. Harris said, “…create programs that incentivize employers to hire people with criminal records.”
In conclusion, the study found that criminal records will continue to hamper job prospects for people.
“I do think that incarceration associated with arrest is going to remain a major factor in why people have difficulty finding and keeping work,” she said. “But it’s going to be less relevant in future cohorts.”
And I think this because prior PPIC research has shown that arrest rates and jail population levels have been lower in the wake of the pandemic than they were during this pre-pandemic time frame.” PPIC’s data on pre and post incarcerated people’s employment grim, but hopeful.
Enough with liberal hand wringing, Elephant in the room,
“…45% of people were unemployed the four years before prison…”
.
indoctrination instead of educating students with skills to become productive
members of society guarantees criminals. State prisons in California have
traditionally been repositories for the failures of California’s educational system,
.
Pat Brown 32nd Governor of California 1959 – 1967 had the right idea.
He strongly and continually advocated for the very best possible education
for every child K thru college.
.
Governor Brown understood educated citizens are far more likely to become
tax paying, productive members of society, living independent of government
aid programs.
.
2023 – 2024 school year, statewide there were 44,859 dropouts.
In a decade that’s 448,590 dropouts. State department of education
began expressing number of dropouts as percentages some years
back. Possibly in an effort to hide embarrassing number of failures.
State even went so far as gifting, failed students with diplomas.
.
Students must learn morals, values, and a skills set from schooling,
family and church. Without a skill set employers are willing to pay up for,
the skill set of the streets will become a way of life.
.
“Very few released prisoners earned above that poverty threshold in any year.”
Z E R O, surprise there.
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Without basic education, ability to read and write plus a skill set in demand, failure
is not uncommon. Unions forcing CA state legislature to raise minimum wages
yearly all but guarantee a parolee won’t become gainfully employed. State and
unions have stacked the deck against parolees. Employers, unlike the
government have, to be able to make profit to stay in business.
.
You end up with two types of people productive members of society not needing
government assistance raising a family, having children who’ll be able to have
good jobs when grown. Other type, are predacious upon society with survival
skills of the street and ZERO EMPATHY for their PREY (victims)
.
Yet today you are living in another liberal democrat experiment where criminals
have been released back on our streets to be predacious upon society, while they
are baffled as to why retailers have to lock up items they’re selling.
.
How many teachers, school administrators or politicians
could pass this eighth grade test.
“…45% of people were unemployed the four years before prison, during prison and the four years after.”
“… 22% had only worked while in prison, and
23% of people had never worked.”
Kind of wishful thinking that someone who has never worked will get out and get a job.
Maybe everyone in prison should be required do regular work of some kind.
I’m not surprised!” Simple, don’t be a criminal!
While true, not impossible.
many people feel inmates should be hired full time for
their service time on a handcrew.
There was a local firefighter that lost their job
after allegedly putting LE officer in a headlock.
meh
No biggie
Just another reason prisons, jails and other detention facilities should all be shut down.