Can inmates fill a troubling hole in the nation’s labor force?

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[Editor's note: This story originally was published by Real Clear Wire.]

By Josh Crawford
Real Clear Wire

Official government unemployment numbers remain low, but the abysmal labor participation rate is a story too often ignored. Amazingly, The Washington Post notes that the prime male work rate is below 1940 numbers, the tail end of the Great Depression when unemployment was almost 15%. Only 62% of the eligible labor force is currently in the workforce.

Why have so many — especially men — given up on work?

There are many reasons: The opioid crisis, family breakdown,surging disability claims, and record government spending. None of them are good. Unfortunately, we can't solve all these problems immediately, but there is an untapped solution that is too often ignored — inmates released from prison.

It’s no secret that lower-wage jobs are much more difficult to fill now. The government paid many workers more not to work during the pandemic. Getting them to return to similar employment is challenging. Likewise, many inmates — particularly men — end up back in prison because of a lack of meaningful work or an opportunity to join the labor force altogether. Employers often fear taking a chance on former inmates, even non-violent offenders.

In Georgia, 57% of inmates were incarcerated at least once before their current sentence. According to the Georgia Department of Corrections, nearly 86% are classified as physically able to work without any limitations. Roughly half were unemployed entering prison, and by age 35, 46% of unemployed men also have a criminal conviction, according to a recent studypublished in Science Advances.

Overall, there are roughly 500,000 people under state supervision in Georgia, the vast majority on probation or parole. There’s an additional half million or so Georgians with a felony on their record. In sum, that’s 12% of the adult population with a felony record.

Many great programs exist to equip former inmates to start their own businesses, but it's not a solution for every inmate and traditional work. Even if inmates are well trained and willing to work, the obstacles can be daunting for even skilled workers released from prison. At the same time, studies and research reveal that work programs alone are not a panacea for curtailing recidivism.

Still, the dignity of work coupled with a robust support system are keys not just to assimilation after a prison stint but a more profound flourishing that addresses the whole person. And given that work opportunities can play a role in preventing recidivism, two programs in Georgia are essential and showcase sustained success in a complicated nonprofit space.

Many inmates or others who have been out of prolonged work often lack the soft skills needed for employment. Some of those skills might be something as apparent as punctuality or socialization.

Programs like the Prison Entrepreneurship Program seek a workaround because many employers shun hiring former inmates. They simply work to equip them to start their own business, given the dreadful hiring statistics former inmates often face.

Organizations like First Step Staffing can step in and provide vocational training to equip former inmates on a path to success.Georgia Works, which focuses primarily on the homeless population, is another nonprofit excelling in this space. Ninety-nine percent of graduates haven’t been rearrested after completing the program. One of the program's strengths is that it requires a desired change in one’s life trajectory.

“If a man is committed to being clean, to addressing the past, and to working, we will help him get a full-time job, transportation, and permanent housing within a year,” according to the Georgia Works website. When a former inmate is committed to re-entering civil society, meaningful work can help ground him there.

Licensing boards in Georgia must make it easier for skilled laborers leaving prison to find and qualify for work. Excessive barriers to work diminish not only the returns of state taxpayers and the free market but threaten strong-intact families. Unfortunately, our culture of crime and dependency tells the tale.

With more Georgians and Americans opting out of full-time work, former inmates can provide an economic boost for our state—and the country overall. More importantly, though, is the commitment to help make broken men and families whole again. Former inmates are not merely throwaways and have served their debt to society required by the law.

More than 95 percent of inmates in prison will be released at some point and providing them with an opportunity beyond their past is critical for their success and the larger society. To turn away and do nothing is only a commitment to many of the work and cultural decay that already plagues us.

Josh Crawford is senior fellow focused on criminal justice reform at the Georgia Center for Opportunity.

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