There’s been a lot of talk this election cycle about building walls to keep Americans safe, but there’s a way for Florida to make its cities and communities safer by doing just the opposite.
Florida’s incarceration rate is one of the highest in the country, and it has risen rapidly over the past decade from 492 inmates per 100,000 residents in 2005 to 960 in 2014, in no small part due to the state’s recidivism rate. According to statistics from the Florida Department of Corrections, about one in four of the 33,000 inmates released every year will end up back in prison within three years.
Why do so many released inmates quickly find themselves behind bars again? One reason is that these “persons with criminal records” face massive obstacles to employment: More than a third of inmates released every year struggle to find work, and it’s not hard to imagine why. In Florida nearly 800 legal barriers prevent them from taking the first steps toward employment. Some of these are common sense precautions, of course, but others, such as a statute that makes Florida’s convicted PCRs ineligible for a tattoo artists’ license, don’t have a clearly defined purpose.
For those 8,700 ex-cons every year who end up in prison again, data show that a job can make all the difference. Released inmates who do manage to find steady employment are 50 percent less likely to return to prison, and less likely to commit crimes in the first place. Rather than harming a community, having a job empowers ex-cons to mend their ways and make a positive, productive contribution to their community, and it improves the safety of those around them.
What’s more, helping these released men and women find jobs would also save taxpayers a pretty penny. If every released inmate found employment and cut the recidivism rate in half, it would save Florida taxpayers $86 million in future corrections costs for every group of inmates released each year. Over time the savings would build further still; if enough people stayed out of prison to allow an entire prison to close, it would save the state about $280 million.
And that’s only considering corrections costs. More jobs for released inmates would also make them less likely to rely on costly government assistance programs like Medicaid and food stamps (plus they would start paying taxes of their own). The resulting economic savings could easily reach into the billions.
Enacting reforms that would actually accomplish this is no easy task. Far too many law-abiding Americans are having a hard enough time finding jobs in the current economy. What can possibly be done for released inmates, given their many competitive disadvantages?
Floridians can start by looking to other states, which offer numerous examples of criminal justice reforms designed to help inmates find jobs and reduce their recidivism rate. Ohio, Wisconsin, and Maryland, for instance, offer inmates skills training and job-readiness programs while they’re still behind bars. These programs then continue to provide support after inmates are released. Wisconsin’s “Windows to Work” program in particular has proven effective, reducing recidivism rates of those who participate in the program by more than half.
Other plans include policies that make it easier for businesses to hire former inmates. Illinois, California, Louisiana and Maryland, for instance, provide a tax credit for employers who hire people with criminal records. Many states also have programs to offer assurance that an inmate is rehabilitated and generally qualified to hold down a job. These programs remove many of the structural obstacles to former inmates enrolling in certification programs and becoming licensed by state boards — while also looking out for the safety and best interest of the public.
All of these policies require the important assumption that offenders actually want to work. But shouldn’t they be given every opportunity possible to break out of the vicious cycle of recidivism? The goal, after all, isn’t to lock up as many criminals as possible, but to build a society that doesn’t need to incarcerate such a large portion of its population. Florida can take a step in that direction by helping the state’s prisoners find dignity and purpose through work.
Nicole Neily is the President of the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, a nonprofit that publishes public-interest journalism at Watchdog.org. Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions.
