from the desk of a JJ counselor

I am a patron of Hair Cuttery. I find it to be affordable, convenient, efficient, and they offer the best head massages when they shampoo my hair. oh my gosh. I'll get my hair cut JUST for the head massage! now, there's nothing super special about Hair Cuttery - it's just that they're cheap, do a decent job, and I don't want to spend gobs of money when my hair doesn't really need a super precise stylist. all this being said, my enthusiasm has been tempered a bit by a couple of recent articles from the Washington Post. they're causing me to re-think my de-facto loyalty to the company.

Michelle Singletary wrote an article last week that highlighted the story of one woman (K. Brown) from Baltimore. This last weekend, she followed up on that first article with this piece. The gist? Ms. Brown has experienced what countless Jubilee Jobs applicants face every day. Ms. Brown is an ex-offender. meaning six years ago she did something she now regrets and has spent these last six years incarcerated. Ms. Brown was looking for a job upon her release; she had skills as a stylist and was looking in that field. She interviewed with Hair Cuttery and was very up-front about her past charges. the managers decided to give her a second chance (bravo). Enter Ms. Singletary, the reporter, who was working on an article related to the challenges of ex-offenders upon their release - the financial pressures, the barriers to employment, etc. When Ms. Brown asked her superiors for permission to get her picture taken for the article working with a customer, she was fired. The company claims that HR up top never knew about Ms. Brown's charge, and they have a strict "no felony" policy - so she got the boot once they became aware.

Now here's the thing. I get it that companies "need to be careful" about who they hire. it makes sense in some cases. you wouldn't want people who have harmed children to be working at a school or in a daycare. you wouldn't want someone who had a DUI to be bar-tending right away. but I have seen enough people come through Jubilee Jobs to say strongly - these blanket corporate policies are not helpful!

Take Ms. Brown, for example. She had a significant charge, yes, but she also had 6 years to contemplate her life, and upon [early] release (probably for positive steps while incarcerated), she took steps to develop her interests, and she got certified in cosmetology. we tell Jubilee folks that the key to getting ahead and out of poverty is to pursue more skills/training/education. Ms. Brown did that and then looked for jobs that made sense. She disclosed the details surrounding her situation to the relevant managers at the Hair Cuttery. at this point, those managers discerned that she was worth "the risk". through her honesty, her pursuit of extra training, and her apparent eagerness to distinguish herself from her past, they employed her. bravo.

as a result of the unfortunate dismissal post-Post article, there has been an outpouring of support for Ms. Brown. people have written letters of disapproval to Hair Cuttery, and many have said they will no longer patronize the shops. This is heartening. it shows that if "the public" were aware of some of the broad-sweeping barriers that ex-offenders face, there may be even more groundswell to say - no, this isn't fair. people shouldn't be eternally punished for the bad choices/wrong decisions/terrible circumstances they once found themselves or made.

yes, employers should exhibit wisdom when assessing a candidate, but no - not all criminal histories are relevant to the job search - especially entry-level, lower-skill jobs that are critical to establishing a citizen's stability on re-entry. if an ex-offender can't even get into an entry-level job because of broad from-the-top statements excluding anyone with a felony, or anyone with any type of criminal charge, then what is keeping them from re-offending? Don't even get me started on the way we sentence people, the state of our prisons, and the prison-industrial complex! That is entirely too much for this posting. suffice it to say - people with records need to be re-acclimated into society, and we are not going to get well-adjusted folks post-incarceration if they can't land a job that will begin to stabilize their lives. the Hair Cuttery was likely not a super-well-paying job. But Ms. Brown was there for 7 straight months without any complaint. her foot-in-the-door is so important to building more hours, more wages, and eventually getting more opportunities to move towards a living wage (minimum wage is so far below a living wage it's pathetic).

let us not become like the folks of Les Miserables or The Scarlet Letter - handing out golden-rod passports or scarlet letter 'A's to people we deem as on the outside -- I guess in our society it looks more like that small pernicious box "check here if you have ever been convicted of a crime"...may we move towards more restorative responses to people who have made mistakes, acted out of stupidity or violence, and who are now in a much different place, wanting to provide for their families and begin a new chapter.