By DAVID BARNES, Washington Examiner
With the holidays behind us, many are putting their energy and efforts into New Year’s resolutions. For many, this means going to the gym to drop a few holiday pounds or finally finishing that home improvement project they put off all year.
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But for the more than 600,000 individuals leaving the criminal justice system who have paid their debt to society, they must resolve to do something even more daunting: make the most out of their second chance, create a successful life and avoid returning to the criminal justice system.
Avoiding recidivism often depends on one key factor: finding a job. This task often proves difficult among those released, as 60 to 75 percent of those returning to society are unemployed a year later. A large part of this unemployment is due to barriers that lock ex-offenders out of opportunity.
The sad fact is that when an employer wants to give someone a second chance, laws at the state level can make it difficult to do so. One way this happens is through a denial of occupational licenses to those with a history in the criminal justice system.
Full story at WashingtonExaminer.com
David Barnes is policy director at Generation Opportunity.
