A new bill has been introduced in the Kentucky Legislature, House Bill 589, that simplifies the process of having criminal records expunged for people who have been convicted of a misdemeanor or class C felony that does not involve violence, sex, a child victim, or public corruption.Under current Kentucky law, such individuals are eligible for expungement after the completion of their sentence and a five-year crime-free period. Unfortunately, a confusing and sometimes burdensome process prevents many people who are eligible from having their records expunged.
The Center for Opportunity’s take: “This bill does not change the crimes for which expungement is eligible nor the requirements of a crime free period once the sentence is completed. Everyone who will benefit from this bill is a non-violent offender who has made it clear their interest is in re-entering civil society,” said Josh Crawford, director of criminal justice initiatives for the Center for Opportunity.
“Importantly, prior convictions can be impediments to finding meaningful work. This matters for two reasons. The first and more important is that meaningful work, in particular the amount of time someone spends working in a job and building a work community, significantly reduce the likelihood that person will recidivate. Reducing recidivism means less crime and fewer victims. Second, Kentucky has one of the worst labor force participation rates in the country. With such a large percentage of our population having a criminal conviction, we cannot afford to exclude from the labor force those who are attempting to turn their lives around and live on the straight and narrow. Kentucky business benefits from an engaged and motivated workforce — those who have earned an expungement under Kentucky law are these exact kind of employees.”
To learn more about the work we’re doing to increase public safety and assist citizens in getting back to work, click here.
To learn more about the work we’re doing to increase public safety and assist citizen in getting back to work, click here.
Key Points
Addressing gang violence is an important way to bring down Georgia’s crime rate
Improving public safety and reducing crime in Georgia are key to growing economic opportunity
Governor Kemp should add re-entry programs to his crime-solving agenda
By Josh Crawford, Director of Criminal Justice Initiatives
When Governor Kemp delivered his state of the State address on Wednesday, January 25, he tackled head-on one of the worries that’s become top-of-mind for everyone in Georgia: public safety and gang violence. Governor Kemp led by saying “[w]e will also continue to take violent offenders out of our communities. For far too many Georgians, the safety of their families and homes is put at risk by the unchecked crimes of street gangs.” Kemp’s comments come on the heels of Atlanta experiencing its third straight year of increased homicide in 2023.
The protection of public safety is the most essential function of government and safe communities are preconditions for economic opportunity and prosperity. While crime control is predominately the responsibility of local government, state government has an important role to play, as well.
Addressing gang violence is an important way to bring down Georgia’s crime rate
Governor Kemp is right to focus on gangs. Studiesroutinelyfind that gang members offend at rates much higher than non-gang affiliated at-risk youth and the general public. Typically, less than one percent of a city’s population belong to gangs or street groups (less formal and hierarchical gangs), but those individuals are responsible for more than 50 percent of a city’s homicides.
It would also be wrong to think of gangs as just an Atlanta problem. In July 2021, Governor Kemp announced the largest gang bust in Georgia history, which occurred in Augusta-Richmond County. It included indictments of 77 members of the mostly-white Ghost Face Gangsters for a range of crimes, including attempted murder, drug trafficking, and assaults on police officers.
One of the specific proposals the Governor mentioned was increasing the penalties for recruiting a child into a gang. This is particularly relevant as the country deals with a nationwide increase in juvenile violence. But in testimony last year by Dallas Chief of Police Eddie Garcia, which he gave before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on behalf of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, Garcia explained that the juveniles involved in serious violence are often pressured by adults who sometimes literally put the gun in their hand.
So, to be successful, efforts to reduce juvenile crime must also focus on the adults who perpetuate the cycle and recruit these children into gangs. In Kentucky, for example, after a 2018 comprehensive anti-gang law passed, recruitment of a juvenile into a gang by an adult became a Class C felony (5-10 years in prison) for the first offense and a Class B felony (10-20 years in prison) for a second or subsequent offense.
Together, we can get Georgia back on track.
Together, we can get Georgia back on track.
Improving public safety and reducing crime in Georgia are key to growing economic opportunity
Reducing violent crime will not only save lives, but restoring public order will improve economic opportunity and mobility in our poorest communities. Increases in violent crime reduce economic mobility and hamper private sector job growth. One study found that changes in the rates of violent crime substantially impacted the economic mobility of children raised in low-income families. As crime went up during childhood and adolescence, their level of economic mobility went down.
Another study found that increases in violent crime cause existing businesses to downsize and discourage new businesses from entering the marketplace. When businesses avoid or flee communities because of crime, residents in those areas lose opportunities for jobs and income, and they have fewer options to affordably access goods and services needed for basic well-being. So, reducing crime is crucial to long term prosperity for both individuals and communities.
Governor Kemp should add re-entry programs to his crime-solving agenda
Not included in the Governor’s speech but worth the legislature’s consideration are efforts to reduce recidivism through re-entry programming. Ninety-five percent of inmates will re-enter civil society at some point, and we desperately need them to come back better. As of 2019—the last year of available data—23.7 percent of inmates will be re-convicted of a felony within three years of release. That’s down from a high of 28.4 percent in 2016, but still far too high. Reducing recidivism means less crime and fewer victims, and while successful re-entry programs are rare, there are some that work very well. As Georgia looks to become a leader in public safety and crime reduction, one of our biggest opportunities lies in how we support re-entry.
The rate of violence Georgians are currently experiencing is unacceptable, but the solutions are abundant and hopeful. Key to our success is reliance on what we know works and partnerships between state and local government, as well as the community. Together, we can get Georgia back on track.
The Georgia Center for Opportunity (GCO) is excited to announce a new addition to our team! Josh Crawford joins us as senior fellow focused on criminal justice reform.
GCO has long understood the impact the criminal justice system has had on those experiencing the barriers keeping them in poverty. Josh will fill a crucial role in helping add expertise and focus to address these issues.
Josh is a native of Massachusetts. He went to Penn State for his undergraduate degree and then finished law school in Boston. After a brief stint in Sacramento, California, working in the county district attorney’s office, Josh moved to Kentucky to help start the Pegasus Institute, a nonpartisan organization designed to promote opportunity. In addition to serving as executive director of the organization, Josh had a special focus on criminal justice policy.
Josh first encountered GCO during the 2021 State Policy Network annual meeting in Florida. He was impressed with GCO’s work on welfare cliffs and by the principles the organization lives by.
“GCO’s focus on opportunity and upward mobility for the most left-behind members of our communities very much aligns with my own passions,” Josh says. “Additionally, it became clear to me that GCO understands the holistic nature of prosperity and a life well-lived. Prosperity is too-often discussed in merely economic terms. But true prosperity comes from not only financial security but community, family, and the ability to help one’s children lead better and more prosperous lives than the generation before them.”
One of the top policy issues that motivates Josh is public safety: “The freedom to walk to the corner grocery store after dark or to let your kids play outside without fear of victimization is not a universal experience in American cities. In the absence of the most basic assumptions of personal safety, it becomes very hard to encourage economic growth or upward mobility. In fact, multiple studies have found that increases in violent crime depress private sector job growth and opportunity.”
Josh’s role at GCO will focus on criminal justice reforms and the pathways for ex-offenders transitioning out of prison to attach to work to lower their risk of recidivism.
“Reversing the trend of increased violence in American cities will require a combination of policy seriousness and political courage. It is my hope to bring the existing work I’m doing to GCO and expand upon it,” Josh added. “This means focusing attention on everything from policing and sentencing to the physical environment of a city and re-entry policy. The first city and state that gets these policy areas right will see not only huge public safety gains but will become the 21stt century model. Together we can make that a reality.”
A belief in working together is key
BETTER WORK Columbus is connected with groups and organizations across the Chattahoochee Valley. These groups include both the Chattahoochee Valley Poverty Reduction Coalition (CVPRC) and the Mayor’s Commission on Reentry. A belief in working together in the local community as the key to eliminating poverty in our city is the common thread binding these groups together. More specifically, the CVPRC holds a shared vision to reduce the poverty rate in the Chattahoochee Valley by 50% over the next 10 years.
BETTER WORK Program Manager, Kristin Barker, plays a leadership role in both of these groups. As forthcoming chair of the Reentry Commission, she works to identify key people in our community and bring them together to address the needs and concerns that impact individuals who are justice-involved. This is necessary to further the mission of preventing recidivism by strengthening cooperation and collaboration between law enforcement agencies, corrections and supervision entities, resource agencies, social service and non-profit organizations, faith-based non-profit organizations, community members, and other private and public stakeholders. Embedded in the group’s purpose is a focus on finding key people in the community and bringing them together to address the needs and concerns that impact individuals who are justice-involved.
The Success Sequence provides an outline of how to reverse the cycle of poverty in our communities. GCO uses this as a framework for much of our work.
Local Connections and National Partnerships
It is these local connections and national partnerships like Jobs for Life that will allow Columbus to discover the high-impact strategies needed to support families in poverty and connect them with resources that will move them toward self-sufficiency.
In Georgia there has been a reduction in the rate of ex-offenders returning to prison. In the most recent report from the Georgia Department of Corrections, 25.3 percent of those released from all facilities (private, state, inmate boot camps, county, transition centers) in state FY 2018 were reconvicted for a felony after three years. That number dropped from 27.7 percent previously. In the last few years, the growing number of ex-offenders returning to a life in prison has become a more widely recognized issue among policymakers and organizations. We believe the percentage is slowly dropping due to the Second Chance program, and organizations like GCO working to help ex-offenders find stable employment, and the elimination of policy barriers that keep this population from working.
Even so, recidivism rates are still too high. Each number—each piece of data—is a person seeking direction and purpose to succeed and be self-sustaining. Not to mention, in a time when federal spending is high and inflation is growing, recidivism is a very costly issue for taxpayers.
It’s a common misconception government assistance programs fill the gap for this population as they reenter society. The key to mitigating the usage of assistance programs and aid in breaking the cycle of poverty and crime for many is stable employment. This might sound elementary at first, but as we move deeper into this idea you’ll see it is common sense.
The Success Sequence provides an outline of how to reverse the cycle of poverty in our communities. GCO uses this as a framework for much of our work.
Jobs provide financial support
We all have bills to pay. A job provides a paycheck. However, let’s not get lost in the dollar signs. A job is more than a paycheck, too. A job is long-term financial security. Having a job allows people to plan for the future and set new life goals, essentially helping to define a person’s purpose. In a 2000 study by Christopher Uggen titled “Work as a Turning Point in the Life Course of Criminals: A Duration Model of Age, Employment, and Recidivism,” he found those over the age of 27 with a job were less likely to return to criminal activity.
Jobs provide purpose
Plain and simple, we all have the inherent need to be needed. Work allows each one of us to use our talents and gifts for positive impact. Fulfilling work allows us to play a part in a community, whether that is a community of coworkers or the actual community we live in. Every job, no matter how big or how small, has intrinsic value. A job helps us to develop daily structure, meet goals, and take our place within society. It’s not easy to go from being told when to eat and sleep to freedom. Jobs help create boundaries and play a part to keep our daily activities moving forward in a positive direction.
In 2005, a study called “Ex-Offender Employment Programs and Recidivism: A Meta-Analysis” found “having a legitimate job lessens the chances of reoffending following release from prison and that recidivism is less likely among those with higher wages and higher quality jobs.”
When people have a sense of purpose, they become more committed, responsible, creative thinkers. They become healthier and more passionate about serving in a way that helps others.
Jobs provide dignity
People generally obtain a large portion of their self-worth from their work. At the end of the day, no matter who we are we want to be treated with respect and equality. These are usually derived from our place of employment.
Without a job people are economically vulnerable to the cost of living and the economy’s fluctuation. Having a job and a sense of self-worth also helps reduce mental health issues among those who have spent time incarcerated.
Relationships with coworkers often provide the social structure and friendships needed for people to ease back into society and reduce the feeling of isolation.Through employment former inmates are able to receive the mental health and medical health support needed to integrate back into society in a dignified way.
Wrapping up
GCO has dedicated much of its time and manpower to working with policymakers to reduce the barriers formerly incarcerated people face when looking for employment. To learn more about what we’re doing click here.
You’ve probably heard that if you give a man a fish, he’ll eat for a day—but if you teach him to fish, he’ll eat for a lifetime. And while the Georgia Center for Opportunity’s (GCO) mission to alleviate poverty by removing barriers to human flourishing is grounded in the three core areas of family, jobs, and education, we know from years of experience that helping people secure meaningful work—teaching them to fish—is key to breaking the chains of generational poverty and building thriving communities. Work is about more than a job. It’s a key pathway to human dignity.
How did we learn this?
In our early years—even before we changed our name to GCO—we were working closely with Neighborhood Planning Unit 5 (NPU-V) in downtown Atlanta. Here, the initial focus was on reforming the criminal justice system because nearly one-in-three men in this community had been incarcerated.
Given this devastating cycle of recidivism, GCO saw the need to work with community leaders, criminal reform experts, and state legislators to help former prisoners successfully re-enter society and learn how to become productive members of society. We also worked on public policy reforms to make it easier for returning citizens to obtain work:
Access to a driver’s license
Access to occupational licensing despite a felony conviction
Rehabilitation certification
Protections for employers who hire returning citizens
We modeled our approach off a sister organization in the United Kingdom called the Centre for Social Justice. Led by former Member of Parliament Iain Duncan Smith, this award-winning organization worked with gangs and achieved success with legislators to enact social welfare policy reforms to help people reach their full potential.
And since research showed that holding a job for at least six months reduced the rate of recidivism by more than two-thirds, we developed relationships with key leaders in the executive, legislative and judicial branches of state government—as well as with local nonprofit, business and community leaders—to reduce recidivism by developing our ground-breaking BETTER WORK program in Gwinnett County and in Columbus.
The Success Sequence provides an outline of how to reverse the cycle of poverty in our communities. GCO uses this as a framework for much of our work.
The heart of BETTER WORK is collaborating closely with local businesses to hire ex-prisoners, offer job training and employment support, and do something good not only for the company, but the community as well. And since our first event in Atlanta in 2017—involving leading employers like Georgia Pacific, Uber and Tip Top Poultry—BETTER WORK events have expanded to other communities in Gwinnett County, Columbus, and beyond.
Beyond helping people find good jobs with employers in local communities, we continue to advocate on policy issues that keep people out of the legitimate job market, including child support challenges, relief from fees and penalties incurred while incarcerated, occupational licensing hurdles, and civil asset forfeiture.
And we continue to build coalitions of nonprofits, faith groups, and businesses to teach folks how to fish so that they are not reliant on government handouts. As always, our mission is to help people support themselves—and provide for their families in ways that break the cycle of poverty and create new trajectories that lead to individual and community transformation.
Coming off the contentious 2020 election, the issue of voting rights has been in the news lately. That is likely why, this year, there is a renewed push among some lawmakers in the Georgia legislature to reform voting-rights laws for those convicted of a felony.
This issue is central to our mission here at the Georgia Center for Opportunity (GCO). For well over a decade now, GCO has advocated for criminal justice reforms that help returning citizens create a new life—through joining the workforce, caring for their loved ones, and becoming productive members of society once again. Voting rights are part of that.
Here’s where Georgia law currently stands: Those with a felony on their record automatically have their voting rights restored once they complete their sentence, which includes serving all parole and probationary periods and paying all outstanding fines, fees, and restitution. They are also eligible to vote if they have First Offender status and that status has not been revoked.
“Just coming out of incarceration period, you feel like you have no opportunity. You feel like there are no options. I don’t have any options.”
Understanding the challenge of voting rights for felons
The goal of voting rights laws for those with a criminal record should be moving them in the quickest way possible to becoming positive, contributing members of society again. Once the individual has fully paid his or her debt to society, it makes perfect sense—and is in the best sense “just”—to reinstate their voting rights.
At the same time, there are good reasons for restricting felons from voting until the end of their sentences. Society has an obligation to prevent people who have demonstrated impaired ability to make good decisions from voting. That’s why we don’t let children or the mentally ill vote.
Felons have an added strike against them in that, in addition to poor judgment, they’ve also—in many cases—expressed contempt and disregard for the laws that govern us and shouldn’t be allowed to impose laws on the rest of us until they have shown their respect for and willingness to abide by the law.
A good place to begin
So, where should we begin with reforms to voting rights for felons? A great place is also the simplest and most non-controversial: There is strong evidence that even some felons who have fully paid their debt to society face challenges in having their voting rights restored.
For example, in 2019 a representative from the Georgia Justice Project testified before a state Senate committee that there is frequently misinformation within voter registration offices, and sometimes among volunteers, about whether someone ever convicted of a felony can vote. There are also challenges with felons proving they are officially “off paper” (i.e., they have completed their probation or parole) and are now legally eligible to vote.
Let’s begin here with clearing up misunderstandings around the law on voting rights for returning citizens and ensuring that all election-related officials are applying it correctly. A big step would be for election officials to be required to accept Certificates of Sentence Completion from the Department of Community Supervision as sufficient proof that a returning citizen should be added back to the voter rolls.
Work is important, too
A central goal of the Georgia Center for Opportunity is to help returning citizens reintegrate into society. Voting rights is one aspect of reintegration, but there are others—like finding stable employment—that are far more important to improving outcomes for returning citizens.
We know that work is a key way to reduce recidivism: Research has shown that if an ex-offender can keep a job for six months or more, their likelihood of ending up back in prison drops dramatically. It also improves the odds that a returning citizen will reconnect with loved ones, especially their children, another key to preventing recidivism.
Imagine stepping from a life of homelessness characterized by desperation and deprivation to a full, rich life in which you can contribute and build a future.
That was Jonathan’s story of transformation. As a graduate of CKS Packaging’s Second Chance Program, Jonathan went from homeless to employed in an entry-level job with a solid upward trajectory, allowing him to support his family, save money for the future, and continue job training and education.
“What the Second Chance Program did was provide discipline, provide structure, and provide a lifeline,” Jonathan shared.
We love stories like these because they demonstrate so vividly this truth: When people are desperate, they need a sense of control over their lives. Without it, they are more likely to fall back into old bad habits and ways of doing things, such as substance abuse, crime, and homelessness.
A job with an upward trajectory is a key way to restore control and confidence in someone’s life.
Find out our full analysis of this Second Chance Program.
CKS Packaging is an Atlanta-based company that manufactures plastic containers for such clients as Coca-Cola, Chick-fil-A, and Kroger. The company created the Second Chance Program in 2016 to partner with service organizations in the Atlanta area with the sole purpose of recruiting struggling individuals who need a second chance at employment.
Georgia Center for Opportunity recently published a research report on the impressive results from the Second Chance Program.
According to Lloyd Martin, the VP of manufacturing and leader of the Second Chance Program at CKS Packaging, many service providers in the community deal with surface issues without addressing the root cause of a person’s problem. In contrast, the Second Chance Program recognizes that a job, and the stability it provides, is a vital plank in rebuilding a foundation for a fruitful life.
Another graduate of the program, Greg, shared that Second Chance provided him a job after hundreds of companies had rejected him due to his criminal record. “When so many other people have said no to you, and then someone steps up and gives you a chance and has faith in you, it makes you want to give it 150% every day,” Greg says. He now plans to stay with the company until retirement.
CKS Packaging didn’t just provide a second chance for Greg. It provided a career.
Doing good while making a profit
CKS Packaging and the Second Chance Program show that it’s possible to do good business while doing good for the community. In fact, they go hand in hand.
According to CKS Packaging, the Second Chance Program has allowed the company to fill the gap in labor they were facing with long-term, dependable employees who otherwise may have not gotten a chance to turn their lives around. In the last five years, the company has hired 473 people through the program.
That impact extends beyond a company’s bottom line and individual lives to enrich an entire community.
To learn more about what Georgia Center for Opportunity is doing to help get Georgians back to work check out our Hiring Well, Doing Good initiative.
Gov. Kemp signs ‘second chance’ expungement bill into law for ex-offenders
By David Bass
For many Georgians, past criminal conviction can be the most significant hurdle to overcome in getting a job. On this front, there is good news: Gov. Brian Kemp recently signed a bill (SB288) into law that allows formerly incarcerated individuals to petition the court to have certain misdemeanor convictions erased from their record four years after the completion of their sentence.
The new law excludes certain offenses, including sexual offenses and DUIs. In a crucial move, the law also creates incentives for employers to make “second chance” hires.
This new law allows for an easier transition back into the workforce for a segment of Georgia’s population that has paid its debt to society and stayed on the straight and narrow.
“This new law is monumental because it takes Georgia off the list of only a handful of states where a criminal offense stays on an ex-offender’s record perpetually,” said Buzz Brockway, vice president of policy at Georgia Center for Opportunity. “We know that unemployment is a key way to help ex-offenders not repeat their crimes. Particularly in the COVID-19 era, breaking down any barriers to employment that we can is always a huge win. We applaud Gov. Kemp and the Georgia Legislature for making this law a reality.”
All Georgians Deserve to Participate in The Economic Recovery
By Buzz Brockway
The Coronavirus pandemic has caused massive numbers of people to lose their jobs. Georgia’s official unemployment rate is 9.7%. However, as we reported last week , many others are not employed but do not appear in the common reported unemployment number.
A top goal of policy makers, and indeed all Georgians, should be to see people return to work as quickly as possible. Work is the best path to financial independence and a flourishing life.
As we endeavor to rebuild our economy, we must look to remove barriers people face in returning to work. One significant barrier many people face is a criminal record. For those with a criminal record who lost jobs due to the pandemic shutdown, finding work again could be difficult. For ex-offenders who didn’t have a job, the task of finding one just became even more difficult. Our research estimates that approximately 250,000 healthy working age men had no job prior to the pandemic. The reasons for their lack of employment vary, but for many, a criminal record is the barrier keeping them out of the job market.
What can be done to address this significant problem? In recent years, Georgia has focused on prison reentry programs meant to assist folks as they transition back into society. This work is important and must continue. But for those already back in society, other assistance is needed.
With Senate Bill 288, the Georgia Legislature has the chance to aid ex-offenders looking for work. The bill would allow an ex-offender, who has served his or her time and stayed out of trouble for a period of time, the opportunity to have certain non-violent misdemeanors expunged from the record. This will allow for an easier transition back into the workforce for a segment of Georgia’s population, who have paid their debt to society and stayed on the straight and narrow.
The benefit to our state in passing this legislation comes in several ways: Ex-offenders with jobs are less likely to recidivate. People who don’t get in trouble again cost the taxpayers less money and actually join the ranks of taxpaying citizens.
Ex-offenders with jobs are able to support their families, reducing poverty and lifting up the communities in which they live. If we want to break the cycle of poverty in our state, we must provide a path out for families. A job is the first step on the path to self-sufficiency and a flourishing life.
We are in the final week of the 2020 Georgia legislative session. There are many important issues being debated and policies being discussed to make our state better. At the top of the list should be providing a path forward for folks who need our help. SB 288 is an excellent step in the right direction.
To learn more about what Georgia Center for Opportunity is doing to help get Georgians back to work check out our Hiring Well, Doing Good initiative.
