Job Scene

A new local program aims to cut recividism through employment.

by Jonas Raab

City Councilman W. Wilson Goode Jr. and the Philadelphia Workforce Development Corporation (PWDC) say they have an answer to the problem of recidivism among parolees and ex-offenders: employment.

On Tuesday, Goode will host a New Work Opportunity Tax Credit employer-training session to educate employers about the new program that offers them a $1,000 tax credit for each ex-offender they hire. The event, at the Adams Mark Hotel on City Line Avenue, will also allow employers to meet with a prescreened group of ex-offenders at a job fair.

The training session is the start of an employer recruitment campaign developed by PWDC called Each One Hire One. Officials say it will showcase services provided by Ready4Work, a federal Department of Labor workforce development initiative, encouraging employers to take advantage of the tax break and alleviating reservations they may have about hiring ex-offenders. Ready4Work connects ex-offenders ages 18-34 who have served, or are serving, time for nonviolent, nonsexual felony offenses and have no acute psychiatric disorders or open criminal cases with employment opportunites and re-assimilation resources.

To qualify for the tax credit, a company must create a new job for the ex-offender and the new hire must work a minimum of 180 days.

"Without employers who are willing to hire ex-offenders, there is no way to combat high recidivism rates, let alone allow ex-offenders the opportunity to live life in our communities in a positive way," said Kimberly Higgins, Ready4Work's project services coordinator.

According to a Consensus Group on Reentry and Reintegration of Adjudicated Offenders' report, employment is the strongest and most consistent predictor of recidivism. There are about 51,000 returning parolees and other individuals already in the community under the supervision of law enforcement in Philadelphia on any given day. Without such help finding jobs or re-adapting to life on the outside, two-thirds of those individuals will be re- arrested within three years; ex-offenders who do not find employment upon release are also twice as likely to commit an entirely new crime.

The report also found that if Philadelphia uses more resources to promote the employment of ex-offenders and reduce recidivism by 10 percent, the city would save more than $6.8 million a year in jail costs alone.

The success of the program is dependent on convincing employers that it is in the best interest of their companies and communities to hire ex-offenders and finding ex-offenders who are committed to change and a crime-free life.