The Department of Corrections’ mission speaks directly to promoting and enabling successful re-entry when people return to their communities. In this pursuit, we know that reliable employment is one of the most important factors for successful re-entry. This is why the DOC supports efforts to enact fair-chance hiring in New Hampshire.

The importance of employment for successful re-entry is at times matched by the difficulty in obtaining such employment. In our society, a criminal record can often act as a scarlet letter, drawing more attention to the presence of a record than to one’s job qualifications. This can last for years, if not decades, resulting in systemic under-employment for people with a record.

National statistics reveal that 60% of people formerly incarcerated are unemployed after one year. This has broader consequences on our communities and even on public safety. Those who become employed are often in low-paying occupations, causing a struggle to afford the basics of daily living.

We all need an income. We need to put food on our tables, put gas in our cars and keep the lights on in our home. People with a record want to be able to meet these needs for their families, just like anyone else. Reasons people recidivate are related to job loss and lack of a job that provides a meaningful wage that many times causes a person to return to criminal conduct providing other methods of income.

This relationship between employment and recidivism is also pronounced with regards to recovery from substance use disorders (SUD). In New Hampshire, the majority of individuals incarcerated in the Department of Corrections are diagnosed with a SUD. This puts increased onus on the importance of employment to improve re-entry and to support recovery. Fair-chance hiring will help on both these fronts.

This policy, pursued through Senate Bill 100, makes a minor change in the job application process, but we believe it will open doors for a discussion about employability that can have a significant benefit. SB 100 would remove the checked box on job application forms that asks if someone has a criminal record and instead would have an employer ask the question during an interview.

Removing the box achieves multiple goals. The box can deter people with a record from applying for jobs because they assume they will be automatically disqualified by virtue of checking that box. By removing the box, such deterrence is lessened.

Along these same lines, removing the box prevents applications from being automatically disqualified because of a checked box. More importantly, employers gain more useful information about the applicant when a question about someone’s record is asked in person. A checked box says nothing about what is on someone’s record. It combines everyone with a record into a single category, with no distinction based on offense or the timing of an offense. This is particularly troublesome since employers may have concerns about particular offenses but not others, and yet a checked box does not allow them to distinguish.

In person, an applicant can explain their record, including its contents and timing, as well as the work they have done to rehabilitate themselves. An employer, informed by this information, is still able to refuse to hire the person because of their record. There is nothing in SB 100 that mandates that employers hire someone with a record, and the DOC would never support such mandatory hiring. Instead, the goal is to enable people with a record the opportunity to explain their background and have their qualifications considered. Employers remain free to decide against hiring a person formerly incarcerated because of their record.

There are a number of state and federal laws that prohibit people with a criminal record from occupying specific jobs. An example of this is nursing applicants in our state cannot have felony level robbery, theft, assault, sexual crime involving children, kidnapping or endangering the welfare of a child or incompetent person convictions to list a few. SB 100 rightfully contains an exception for such jobs subject to state or federal restrictions pertaining to criminal records. An employer looking to hire a nurse could ask on the application form if applicants have a conviction for any of the felony convictions outlined above.

Our state is still in the midst of an opioid epidemic, which is contributing to people winding up in the criminal justice system and with criminal records. Part of overcoming this epidemic is helping people re-enter their communities and again become productive citizens. The goal of SB 100 is to help people with a record have a fair chance to compete for a job.

Our communities benefit when individuals exiting our correctional facilities are able to successfully re-enter their communities, support their families and engage in meaningful employment. This is why the Department of Corrections supports fair-chance hiring for New Hampshire.

(Helen Hanks is commissioner of the N.H. Department of Corrections.)