40% of persons leaving prison have a significant disability on top of the stigmas of post-incarceration:
TakeAction Minnesota is using its grant to promote new statewide fair hiring standards for businesses, such as persuading prospective employers to consider criminal records only when they directly relate to the position rather than asking questions on applications that promote blanket rejections. Earlier this year, the Minnesota legislature passed the “ban the box” legislation and it was signed into law in May, making Minnesota the third state in the nation to adopt “ban the box” in both the public and private sectors. Under the new law, an employer will no longer be allowed to include a check box about criminal background on the initial employment application.
NewPublicHealth recently spoke with Justin Terrell, manager of the Justice 4 All program at TakeAction Minnesota, about the intersection of employment and health.
NewPublicHealth: What are the ways in which employment impacts health?
Justin Terrell: One of the ways that employment impacts health is that if you have a job, you are more likely to have healthcare coverage or be able to be able to get coverage. But income also has an impact on health — the more money you have left over after paying bills, the less you’re worried about housing, about what you’re eating if you’re not on assistance.
It’s surprising and people don’t often think about it, but income also has an impact on safety. In low-income, under-resourced communities of color like north Minneapolis, where we do a lot of our work, you have people who are ten times more likely to be incarcerated for the same crime committed compared with whites in other communities. Those with criminal records can’t find work. Well, now communities have a safety issue as well because our recidivism rate in Minnesota is 61 percent. We believe in the Homeboy Industries’ slogan: “nothing stops a bullet like a job.” [Editor’s Note:Homeboy Industries is a nonprofit that serves high-risk, formerly gang-involved men and women with free services and programs.]