Step Up Louisiana helps formerly incarcerated find second chance
23rd June 2020 · 0 Comments
By Ryan Whirty
Contributing Writer
When local resident Earl Hagans was released from prison, he found it difficult to find a job because employers proved reluctant to hire a former felon.
The rejections led to disappointment and frustration, which turned into anger at society and at his situation. That was coupled with the inability to receive benefits like food stamps; at the time of his release from prison, Louisiana law prevented Hagans, an ex-convict from receiving SNAP, housing help and other public programs. Hagans struggled mightily.
As a result, Hagans became resentful with a society that denied him opportunities to improve himself, and his inability to find legitimate employment threatened to return him to a former life that he was trying to put in his past.
“[For] the person coming home or the person who’s been home, if they can not find gainful employment, it can be a frustrating thing, which can lead to anger and so on,” Hagans told The Louisiana Weekly. “I’m speaking from experience, and that angry person can do some not-so-smart things out of anger.
“When I was angry about being turned down for a job,” he added, “all I could think was, ‘F*** this, they don’t give a f***, [so] I don’t give a f***.’”
Thankfully, a friend, who saw how much Hagans was struggling, created a job – making deliveries for a laundromat – specifically for Hagans. It was just the break Hagans needed to keep himself on the straight and narrow. Someone’s leap of faith in hiring a former prisoner turned around Hagans’ life. His faith in himself, and society, started to grow.
That stability and confidence allowed Hagans to turn what was anger into a more positive outlet, and when another friend introduced him to Step Up Louisiana, a grassroots organization dedicated to education and social and economic justice.
Earlier this month, Hagans and other formerly incarcerated men and women helped Step Up kick off its Fair Chance in Hiring effort, aimed at assisting former convicts in finding and keeping work, as well as advocating for fair hiring legislation. Step Up’s Fair Chance in Hiring effort launched June 2 with a webinar discussion that included formerly incarcerated people, political leaders, writers and community activists.
Former Orleans Parish Criminal Court Judge Arthur L. Hunter Jr., who took part in the Step Up Louisiana fair chance webinar last week, said more businesses need to sign on to the overall effort by becoming members of or working with organizations that connect formerly incarcerated people with job prospects and prospective employers. Beyond structured programs, a willingness to give someone a second chance goes a long way.
“With prisoner reentry programs, the No. 1 issue is finding employers willing to hire people with a criminal record,” Hunter said. “If you really want to reduce crime, get off the sidelines and do something. We’re trying to get as many employers on board as possible.”
Hunter said some local businesses have done a good job at hiring formerly incarcerated employees who do have the skills, qualifications and eagerness to fill a position. Hunter cited Troy Duhon and his company, Premier Auto Group, as one employer who has given many former prisoners a second chance, to much success.
In addition, another rallying point among Fair Chance in Hiring advocates has been to “ban the box,” referencing the yes/no question on many job applications that asks applicants if they are convicted felons. The question on applications is posed with a little box or boxes which must be checked off.
Many jurisdictions, including the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana, have adopted “ban the box” policies. Hunter noted that many other parts of society, such as benefit programs and educational institutions, have used the yes/no box to unfairly weed out reformed convicts, even if the applicants qualify for the job.
“I don’t know why we even need the box,” said Hunter, who for many years has been active with similar fair-chance efforts locally. “It’s not just getting a job. It’s having access to an education. We should be hiring people based on their skills and qualifications for the job.”
Hunter said that once a man or woman has paid for their crime and reformed while in prison, it would be unfair to obstruct their future by using their past against them. Once you have paid your dues, he said, you shouldn’t be punished further.
“We need to change the way we perceive people who were formerly incarcerated,” he said. “Once paying for a crime gets into retribution that lasts beyond someone’s sentence, that just doesn’t make sense. The purpose of prison is to reform people, and once they are reformed, they should be able to reenter into society, to find work and become a taxpayer, not a tax-taker.”
Step Up’s webinar session last week went very well, members said, and members of the Step Up Louisiana organization are looking forward to continuing their efforts promoting fair-chance efforts, including lobbying for further, more progressive legislation.
Edward Holmes, another formerly incarcerated individual whose post-release job-hunting difficulties were similar to those faced by Hagans. And, like Hagans, he works with the Step Up organization on behalf of other former convicts.
“Working with Step Up Louisiana has been a beautiful thing,” he said. “It’s exciting because everything they do has a purpose to achieve. Nothing is wasted. What they’re doing is like a blessing.”
Holmes said he hopes to help Step Up Louisiana expand its employment effort inside jails and prisons, where many incarcerated people become hardened, hopeless and cynical even before they’re released. He knows first-hand how much prison life, as well anxiety about making their way in society post-release, can prevent a happy, successful life.
“Many guys in prison don’t know about [Step Up],” he said. “I want them to have a glimmer of hope. They need to know that there are some small giants on the outside working tooth and nail to help them.”
It personally took Holmes much time and effort to get himself stabilized and working, largely because of prejudices held by many in society, including possible employers. He said released prisoners can get in a cycle of rejection, failure regrouping. He said it can be tough to keep getting up after being knocked down time and again.
“When I look for a job, [businesses] find out I’m a convicted felon, that’s all that they see,” Holmes said. “They don’t see a human being. They don’t see a man who’s been reformed. They don’t see that I want to better myself and become a productive person in society.
“I’m willing to work,” he added. “I’ll work as hard as I can for anything I want. I do not let my past define me.”
Holmes said people in society – especially businesses and prospective employers – often say they support formerly incarcerated individuals in finding jobs, but at times those same people are unwilling to take action to help prevent released prisoners from falling back into crime because they have no other option or purpose.
He said more people need to understand how vicious and depressing it can be to be caught in the cycle of imprisonment and recidivism. He said paying lip service isn’t helping the situation.
“It’s easy for people to say they believe that people deserve a second chance,” he said. “But if given the opportunity to give someone a second chance, will you do it, or will you feel good just saying it?”
Holmes said a formerly incarcerated person’s inability to find employment manifests itself in ways besides simply recidivism. He said systemic unemployment among ex-convicts places a burden on taxpayers by straining public social services and support programs, for example. In addition, a frustrated, angry former prisoner can negatively impact his or her family and other loved ones.
“There are guys like myself,” he said, “we come out [of incarceration] and try everything [to find employment], and nothing works. We all repeat that process and try again, and still nothing works.”
But Holmes said he personally uses defeat to improve himself as a person.
“I believe in failing forward,” he said. “You get better from failure. If you make a mistake, clean up your process and do it again.”
As for Hagans, although he remains optimistic and energized by the work of Step Up Louisiana and other organizations and advocates for fair hiring and banning the box, he also knows that nothing will change on a large scale until legislation and other institutional changes are in place to prevent discrimination against formerly incarcerated people. That must be coupled with a willingness by society as a whole to truly believe in and offer second chances.
“The misconception is that formerly incarcerated people are not reliable and are lazy,” he said. “This is not accurate at all.”
As a result, Hagans retains a touch of cynicism in a broken, prejudicial system that gives formerly incarcerated people simply an illusion of a better future, not true opportunity. “If you tell me I’m worthy of a second chance but [also tell me] I can’t have one,” he said, “then it’s a big lie.”
“I got with some organizations like Step Up,” he added, “but how many people felt like they didn’t belong, like I did [at one time] and didn’t find the people that would give them a chance like I was given? I don’t know how else to describe a failing system.”
In the end, reformed prisoners and society have the same goal – to prevent people from falling back into crime. With enough support from enough open-hearted people, Hagans said, that goal can be better realized and reached.
“For formerly incarcerated people,” he said, “it gives the person coming home the opportunity to showcase their ability and earn an income to build confidence, and I believe that can make a safer community.”
This article originally published in the June 22, 2020 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
