If the first step was getting more people out of prison, the second step is helping those people get jobs — and that’s exactly what President Trump said he plans on doing. That’s great and lawmakers should waste no time in backing up the president’s actions with robust legislation.
Speaking during an event billed as a celebration of the FIRST STEP Act, President Trump championed the bipartisan legislation passed by Congress and signed into law in December. With better access to drug treatment programs, more pathways for early release, some sentencing reform and provisions for elderly, ill and others to serve sentences at home, the goal of the bill has already made a difference.
Flanked by former inmates released under the FIRST STEP Act, Trump told the audience, “Today I’m announcing that the Second Step Act will be focused on successful reentry and reduced unemployment for Americans with past criminal records, and that’s what we’re starting right away.”
Trump also indicated that part of the plan would focus on employers telling the audience that they would be encouraged “to adopt second-chance hiring practices.”
That announcement comes on the heels of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner making headlines last month when he personally called Walmart to help Catherine Toney, newly released from prison by the FIRST STEP Act, land a job. On Monday, Trump made clear that that interest extended well beyond just calling Walmart and setting up a single success story.
Although there are clearly specifics to be ironed out, likely another round of sparing in Congress, and plenty more to be done on actually getting people out of prison, Trump is right to add a focus on reentry to his administration’s efforts on criminal justice reform.
Congress should follow his lead and hit pause on partisan point scoring to take another step towards meaningful criminal justice reform — this time focused on helping those with criminal records get back into the workforce and successfully rejoin society. In the long run, investing in those programs with make stronger, safer communities, reduce recidivism, and boost the economy.
Besides, as charming as Jared Kushner’s call to Walmart likely was, personal calls from administration officials was never a long term, country-wide solution. Replicating Toney’s success in rejoining the workforce after incarceration instead requires institutional and social change and it finally looks like Washington wants to do just that.
[Also read: With his friends going to prison, Trump is making criminal justice reform great again]
