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Second Chance Employment: Good for Business and the Community

Prior to joining the team at Penn Stone, Pablo felt like he was in a rut. Looking for work after a dark chapter in his life, he felt that no one wanted to hire him. He faced rejections from employers after the results of his clearances came back. He felt that his "past mistakes kept him from the place I wanted to be.” In short, he needed a second chance. Second chance employment refers to companies intentionally hiring individuals who have barriers to employment like criminal backgrounds. One of those companies is Lancaster Works, a for-profit enterprise of local non-profit ASSETS that offers temporary hires for local employers. Pablo got connected to Tyrone Miller, Director of Lancaster Works, who matched him as a yard attendant at Penn Stone that soon turned into a permanent job that he feels has helped him find his purpose.

In Lancaster County’s tight labor market, employers are finding it harder and harder to find qualified employees. Looking past a criminal background can open up a new pool of good employees like Pablo. Eric Athey, attorney at McNees Wallace and Nurick, comments that hiring managers should be aware of federal and state laws that impact the hiring of individuals with criminal records. For example, the Pennsylvania Criminal History Information Act and federal EEOC Guidance both require employers to determine whether an applicant’s prior conviction truly affects his or her “suitability” for employment before making a hiring decision. Employers are expected to consider each candidate on the unique circumstances of his or her record as opposed to implementing rigid, broadly applicable bans on hiring individuals with certain types of convictions. Some factors to consider when making this determination include:

• The severity of the conviction and its relevance
  to the role for which he/she is being considered.
  Certain violent or sexual offenses may preclude certain types of employment. But many other non-violent convictions are a different story. For example, consider a DUI or a drug possession. Those might give a hiring manager pause for a bus driver position, but be less of a concern for a hiring manager seeking to fill a customer service position.
• The date of the conviction. For example, employers
  should ask themselves if a shoplifting charge from 15 years ago (when the applicant was 20 years old) truly causes for concern when there have been no other convictions since.
• Evidence of rehabilitation/education. Has the candidate obtained training or taken other steps to establish readiness for the workforce?

Employees with a criminal record may face some unique
challenges once on-board. These include:

• Challenges with opening a bank account, which can
  make direct deposit difficult
• Potential stigma from colleagues
• Dealing with the effects of traumatic experiences
  from incarceration
• Exercising soft skills (conflict management and effective
  communication among them)

But there are actions employers can take to set these new team members up for success. These include training for HR professionals about the unique barriers and training for the staff as a whole that communicates that your work place is a returning citizen-friendly environment.

There are many benefits to this approach to hiring and retention for both employers and the community as a whole. At Johns Hopkins Hospital, which has a long-standing commitment to hiring returning citizens, a five-year study of nearly 500 returning citizens found a lower turnover rate than the overall employee population. Among a subset with serious records, 92.4 percent were still employed at the end of the study period. 

Additional resources can be found at:

•  Greater Baltimore Committee report on Hiring Returning Citizens: https://gbc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/
  Quick-Guide-HRC-Final-Small-Format-V2-LR.pdf
• RMO for Returning Citizens, Lancaster County’s
  Re-Entry Coalition: http://www.caplanc.org/Our-Programs/Household-Stability/RMO-for-Returning-Citizens

This article was written:

BY MIKE MCKENNA,
Chief Impact Officer, Community
Action Partnership of Lancaster County
Contact Mike at

You can find the article in the Spring/Summer 2018 issue of the Lancaster Chamber's Thriving! 

College @ the Leading Edge

Closing the gap

The skills gap describes a misalignment between educational supply and economic demand, and it highlights the need for skills-driven degrees that prepare students for emerging careers and address workforce shortages. While many institutions of higher education face an uncertain future,  Thaddeus Stevens is poised at education’s leading edge—offering a direct path to rewarding careers and fulfilling lives, yet without burdening graduates with insurmountable debt.

College that meets the growing demand for skilled workers

A report by the Manufacturing Institute predicts that nearly 3.5 million US manufacturing jobs will open up over the next decade, but the skills gap will result in 2 million of those jobs going
unfilled.

The Business Roundtable says companies are having a difficult time filling jobs that require specialized skills, but not necessarily a traditional four-year degree, such as welders, energy and computer technicians, mechanics and tool and die makers. And with baby boomers retiring in record numbers, workforce shortages are accelerating.

That’s why two-year technical degree holders are beginning to outpace the annual earnings of many four-year graduates, according to Kevin Fleming, a national advocate of career and technical education (CTE). Employers are also aggressively recruiting. At Thaddeus Stevens, 1,300 regional employers with more than 3,000 job openings actively recruited members of the Class of 2017, of which there were only 415. That’s 8+ jobs per graduate.

“The STEM jobs currently needed nationally require hands-on technical skills, contextualized general education understanding, and industry credentials,” explains Fleming, dean of instruction for career and technical education programs at Norco College, Calif., who spoke at a Thaddeus Stevens event in February 2017. “We are producing many college graduates, but too few possess the employability, technical, and professional skills STEM employers are seeking.”

"Not only do our graduates find good jobs," says Laurie Grove, "we see so many of them moving into supervisory roles within the first years of employment."

Giving students tools for work and for life

Graduates of Thaddeus Stevens leave with more than just job-based skills. They’re prepared for work—and for life.

The depth and breadth of the College’s technical curriculum is designed to support soft-skills development, including teamwork, oral presentations, and long-term projects, which build social, communications and time management skills. In addition, the College’s General Studies requirements further develop communications, critical thinking and global awareness. Each college major has one or more industry mentors who have a regular presence in technical labs to conduct mock interviews, discuss careers and offer job shadowing.

Thaddeus Stevens also offers students applied learning experiences in just two years that rival or surpass opportunities at many four-year institutions. The College’s Home Construction Program is a great example, with students from several construction programs collaborating to build award-winning duplex homes in the community. A large percentage of students participate in paid internships, many of which lead to full-time offers prior to graduation.

“Over the past three years, 98 percent of employers we have surveyed say they are satisfied or very satisfied with the level of preparation of our graduates entering the workforce,” said Laurie
Grove, the College’s director of career services. “Not only do our graduates find good jobs, we see so many of them moving into supervisory roles within the first few years of employment.”

A golden ratio: low student debt/ high employability

And all this costs a lot less.

Nationwide, 44 million people owe $1.3 trillion in student debt. That’s more than the gross domestic product of Russia. The average 2016 graduate has more than $37,000 in student loan debt.

2 year technical degree

234 internships

415 students recruited by

1,300 regional employers

“Statistics like these have people questioning the value of higher education altogether, which is a shame,” says Dean of Enrollment Michael DeGroft. “You can find value in higher education—you just need the right degree.”

The average student loan debt for Thaddeus Stevens graduates is only about $7,000. Importantly, more than half of all students qualify for the Stevens Grant, which covers tuition, housing, meals, tools, and textbooks.

“These students are on the fast-track to a high-demand job with little or no debt as they start their career,” DeGroft says.

A fast return on educational investment

Compared to the general higher education landscape, the return on investment at Thaddeus Stevens is obvious.

Nationwide, it is estimated that half of university graduates are under-employed in what are known as “gray-collar jobs,” or positions that do not require the education they have received, according to Kevin Fleming. Meanwhile, four out of five Thaddeus Stevens graduates are employed full-time,
in their majors, immediately after graduation. Total graduate placement is between 96 and 99 percent.

Further, more than one in six grads from the Class of 2017 reported starting income of more than $50,000, which is a average debt-to-salary ratio of just 15 percent. That’s compared to the average bachelor’s degree holder, whose student debt-to-salary ratio is closer to 74 percent.

Dominic Bridi started on that path to a bachelor’s degree. But he’s thankful he changed course. As tuition continues to rise, students take on more debt to complete a degree only to compete with more baccalaureate graduates for fewer jobs. That’s why Dominic thinks more students should consider
their alternatives.

“A lot of high schools—and parents, too—push four-year schools,” he says. “I wish more of them would offer that there’s another option.”

Kevin Fleming's Success in the New Economy