Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Eastern District of Michigan
Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015
Nearly 1,500 individuals participated in a reentry job and resource fair at the Northwest Activities Center in Detroit today. The event connected individuals returning from prison with community resources and employment opportunities. The fair was organized by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Mayor Mike Duggan’s Office, Detroit Employment Solutions, the Michigan Department of Corrections, the U.S. Probation Department, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons and the Cherry Health Community Treatment Center-West Residential Reentry Center. Employers participating at the job and resource fair included manufacturing, construction, recycling, staffing and service companies. The job and resource fair also included representatives from job training programs, community colleges and service providers. Each year, more than 13,000 citizens return from prison to their communities in Michigan. Statistics show that about one-third of them will reoffend. Offenders identify joblessness as their biggest barrier to success, and research shows that unemployment and crime go hand-in-hand. Sending returning citizens back to their communities with no ability to get a job leads to recidivism. “Taxpayers pay about $34,000 a year to incarcerate a single prisoner," stated U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade. “Rather than watching returning citizens go back to prison through the revolving door, it makes fiscal sense to invest in helping them find jobs. If we want to reduce crime, we need to find jobs for our returning citizens. Otherwise, we will all continue to pay their debt to society." Lawmakers understand the public safety and fiscal benefits of finding jobs for returning citizens. New federal and state laws encourage employers to hire returning citizens by providing tax incentives for hiring felons and bonding to protect employers from liability. The job and resource fair follows and informational breakfast for employers in May featuring "Orange is the New Black" author Piper Kerman. Organizers asked employers to consider hiring citizens returning from prison. The job and resource fair provided an opportunity to connect employers with returning citizens.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
