Leaders in the city of Reading are trying to end discrimination against convicted criminals.
"It is really a good thing," said Timothy Harris.
Timothy Harris is talking about a nationwide movement called "Ban the Box" as in the box on job applications you need to check if you are a convicted criminal.
Harris knows what that is like. He has had to "check the box".
He was in jail for two and half years for intent to deliver a controlled substance.
He is just the type of person Mayor Vaughn Spencer had in mind when he decided to ban the box from job applications for the city of Reading.
"That is not going to be the beginning of the end by checking that box. You can bring the person in, have an opportunity to find out what their job skill level is," said Mayor Vaughn Spencer, (D) Reading.
Spencer said when employers see that check mark, they may dismiss the applicant and rob that person of the opportunity to get their foot in the door.
That is why he is hoping by removing that question, the applicant will have a fair shot at an interview.
From there, if the employer is interested in moving forward with the applicant, they can then run a background check and decide if they would be interested in hiring a convict.
"If we do not find work for some of these people, we are going to see possibly some of them going back in that criminal behavior because it is only human nature, you are going to do whatever it takes to survive," said Spencer.
The city's new application, minus "the box", goes into effect this Monday.
Spencer said Lancaster, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh have already banned the box as well as big retailers like Walmart, Target and Bed Bath and Beyond.
The Mayor said he is hoping by changing the application in Reading, it serves as an example to local business as well as Berks County to make a change.
A representative from the Reading branch of the NAACP said they are also pushing for the "Ban the Box" initiative to be instituted statewide.
Spencer worries that if this does not catch on, more people like Harris will be left without a fighting chance of integrating back into society.
from 69News:Home http://ift.tt/1zY6aiz
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