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Ohio wants to link inmates with jobs upon release

Jona Ison
USA Today Network-Ohio
  • Each year%2C about 20%2C000 inmates are released back to communities and struggle to find employment due%2C in part%2C to their criminal record.

In an effort to decrease repeat offenders, Ohio officials are pursuing ways to connect inmates with jobs.

Prison Director Gary Mohr outlined initiatives during a statewide reentry coalition meeting Thursday in Chillicothe that would recruit businesses to not only consider employing someone with a criminal record, but interview them for a job before they are released.

"We're going to get people hired before they walk out," Mohr said.

Department of Youth Services Director Harvey Reed expressed similar hopes for the state's juvenile population, many of whom turn 18 or older before release.

"Our focus over the next year is to make sure that every youth that leaves our facilities on parole, all either have employment or education that's already set for them," Reed said.

Each year, about 20,000 inmates are released back to communities and struggle to find employment due, in part, to their criminal record. Some criminal justice research indicates that ex-offenders who are employed are less likely to reoffend and return to prison.

"People need to work. Not just for money, they need to work for themselves. They need to have a sense of self esteem that they are doing something, they're helping their families, they're helping their communities. It is critical," Mohr said.

Inmates across five prisons already have access to Ohio Means Jobs to put together resumes and look at job postings before they are released. However, they are not allowed to upload a resume until the day they are released.

Prison officials are working with Job and Family Services to allow resumes to be uploaded two months before release so employers have access to them and even interview inmates before they leave prison. Access to Ohio Means Jobs is being expanded to the Ohio Reformatory for Women in May.

Also in the works are efforts to recruit more businesses to consider hiring someone directly after release by marketing the fact they already have been drug tested and may have certain certifications. Mohr envisions partnerships where either the state or the business provides inmates preliminary training in the days leading up to release so the person is ready to work immediately.

A similar arrangement already is in place with the system's commercial driver's license program, another collaboration with Job and Family Services. The program has been in place about 18 months and P I & I Motor Express, based in the Youngstown area, has agreed to hire all graduates.

jison@Gannett.com

Twitter: @JonaIson