Justice-impacted residents, including family members of people who have had involvement with the criminal justice system, have long experienced substantial challenges (PDF) to entering the workforce.
Even when they can find a job, they often work multiple jobs due to their inability to find employment that offers family-sustaining wages or opportunities for upward economic mobility. These challenges are especially difficult for individuals seeking to enter fields that require occupational licenses, including high-demand sectors such as health care. Given that nearly one in three (PDF) people in the US have some kind of criminal record, it is imperative for policies and practices to be in place to allow those who have had justice involvement to not only enter the workforce, but to be successful in their careers and communities after returning home.
Impact on Justice-Impacted People & Communities
The Philadelphia Department of Commerce’s Fair Chance Hiring Initiative is a strategic effort aimed at promoting inclusive employment practices by encouraging businesses to hire individuals with criminal records. This initiative not only helps reduce barriers to employment for justice-impacted individuals but also strengthens the local economy by tapping into a broader, often overlooked talent pool.
In addition to this initiative, the Department also advances economic equity through its Quality Jobs Program. While not formally categorized as a fair chance policy, the Quality Jobs Program indirectly supports the same population by incentivizing employers to create and sustain jobs that offer living wages, benefits and career advancement opportunities. Many of the individuals who benefit from this program have been impacted by the legal system, and the program’s focus on job quality ensures that these workers are not only employed but also positioned for long-term success and stability.
Gainesville, Florida holds the distinction of being the first city in the state to adopt a Fair Chance Hiring Policy (FCHP), demonstrating bold leadership in advancing equitable employment practices. The City’s Fair Chance Hiring Ordinance prohibits employers from disqualifying job applicants solely based on their criminal history without first conducting an individualized assessment. This ensures that each candidate is evaluated on their qualifications, experience and potential, rather than being automatically excluded due to past involvement with the justice system.
Moreover, the ordinance includes a critical safeguard: it prohibits employers from requiring applicants to disclose their criminal history prior to receiving a conditional offer of employment. This “ban-the-box” approach helps level the playing field during the initial stages of the hiring process, allowing individuals to be considered on their merits. Since implementing this policy, Gainesville has seen unemployment rates that are consistently lower than the state and national average, suggesting that inclusive hiring practices can contribute to stronger, more resilient local economies.
How Fair Chance Hiring Benefits Employers
Employers benefit greatly from implementing fair chance hiring practices. 85 percent of human resources (HR) professionals and 81 percent of industry leaders report that workers with criminal records performed at least as well, if not better, than their peers without records. Over 80 percent of managers also reported that fair chance employees brought high value to their workplaces, sometimes higher value than workers without records. The same report found that hiring and meaningfully supporting employees with previous criminal histories elevated the level of loyalty and engagement of their entire workforce.
Employers, including local governments (in all but seven states), have the opportunity to not only implement fair chance hiring practices, but to ensure that those individuals are hired into and enabled to be successful in roles at all levels of the organization. Fair chance hiring is one strategy that can minimize occupational segregation, which refers to Black and Latinx people, especially women, disproportionately working in low-wage, low-quality jobs without benefits. Many cities have successfully hired strong talent as a result of fair chance hiring practices, including in their Offices of Public Safety. The City of Milwaukee recently hired a new director of the Office of Community Wellness and Safety, Adam Procell, who brings decades of experience in working to reform the criminal justice system, including his own lived experience. The City of Philadelphia also has a robust Fair Chance Hiring Initiative with notable benefits for residents and for employers, including wage reimbursements for participating employers.
City Strategies
- Ensure that your city promotes a supportive workplace for justice-impacted employees. Review and update hiring policies and practices to eliminate barriers for residents with records to enter the municipal workforce. Beyond the hiring process, evaluate HR policies to ensure that they can be successful and advance in their careers. Implement inclusive procurement and contracting policies and practices to ensure that all city contracts create equitable opportunities for all residents.
- Center the voices and experiences of people who have been impacted by the criminal justice system. Fair chance employees are the experts in their own experiences and should be empowered to co-design the policies and practices that would best enable them and their fellow fair chance colleagues to succeed.
- Train local employers on the benefits of fair chance hiring. Work with local industry leaders, chambers of commerce and other community-based organizations and stakeholders to provide training to employers in the region on the benefits of and strategies to implement fair chance hiring to ensure that all residents have pathways into high-quality employment across various sectors and occupations.
Fair chance hiring and retention of justice-impacted workers benefits everyone. These policies and practices reflect cities’ commitment to fostering a more inclusive and resilient workforce — one that recognizes the value of second chances and the importance of equitable access to economic opportunity.
From ensuring opportunities for individuals to gain critical job skills and experiences to creating value for employers to increasing public safety across cities, fair chance workforce practices serve to elevate entire communities.
Workforce 101
Learn more about how municipal leaders can — and already do — advance local workforce development strategies that connect residents to family-sustaining jobs and improve economic competitiveness by meeting the needs of their local employers.
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