Nearly one in three American adults — an estimated 70 million people or more — have some form of arrest or conviction record, making it difficult if not impossible for them to find work. Here’s how some forward-thinking companies are giving former felons a foothold in society.
At age 25, Rahsaan Sloan was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for a gang-related felony. Instead of falling into depression and loneliness at losing his wife and missing his kids growing up, Sloan took every opportunity to educate and improve himself — he signed up for college courses, worked as a parenting teacher, and basically grabbed every possibility that could prepare him for his release. When that day finally came, 12 ½ years later, he entered a strange new world of smartphones and teenage daughters, but he felt ready to rebuild his life. It wasn’t long before he was hired at Dave’s Killer Bread, a bakery near Portland, Oregon, that does not discriminate against applicants with criminal histories.
“It feels good to finally be in a position where my work and attitude speaks for itself; it’s not about my past,” Sloan says. “The job has changed our lives forever. It’s turned me back into a provider who can take care of my family.” He cherishes things that most people take for granted: to help pay his son’s college tuition; to attend his daughter’s track meets; even just to hear her talk on the phone with her friends and light up when she says, “My dad is going to be there.”
While things are looking up for Sloan, many others aren’t so lucky. With a felony record that acts as a scarlet letter when it comes to obtaining housing, education, social services, loans, and yes, a decent-paying job, two-thirds of released inmates are rearrested within three years. But growing awareness about the exorbitant costs and devastating impacts of mass incarceration — especially on African-American communities — is prompting people on all sides of the criminal justice system to ask how we can be smarter, and not just harsher, when it comes to breaking the cycle of crime.
(Published in the July/August 2018 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. Read the online version, or view the PDF here.)
