Friday, March 5, 2010

Job Fair for Convicted Felons

More than 3,000 people turned out in downtown Houston, Texas, Wednesday for a job fair designed for convicted felons.

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What a sensational idea. Here is why:

Lavell Byrd was just one of the people who came out in search of work. He told KHOU that he hadn't had a full-time position since December. "I'm an ex-con, and that's the main thing that's holding me back," Byrd said to KHOU. "It's a very, very, very hard thing that people still look at what you did in the past and not what you can do in the future."

Giving people like Byrd a chance to succeed and be a productive part of the work force is in the interest of all of us, said council member Johnson. If ex-criminals can't find jobs, they're more likely to land back in prison, he said." They made a mistake, but they've paid their debt to society," he said. "At the end of the day, we are all going to pay if we don't open the doors of opportunity -- whether we become the victims [of future crimes] or we have to use our tax dollars to imprison them."

What an incredible program indeed!

2 comments:

Chris Blanchard said...

As usual, Mike, a thoughtful post about something that on its face makes so much sense, but gets almost no thought from the folks who run parole and probation.

Eric Mayo said...

If many of these felons don't find employment,unfortunately they will find themselves back behind bars.

I answer questions for felons looking for jobs at my blog: http://howfelonscangetjobs.blogspot.com