Oklahoma group awarded grant for 'fair chance' hiring efforts
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (KOKH) — The Just Trust has awarded grant money to several organizations in Oklahoma as a part of criminal justice reform efforts. One such group in the state, the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Advisory Council, is using the grant to connect job seekers with criminal records to careers.
The Oklahoma County CJAC is encouraging employers to develop "second chance," also called "fair chance," hiring policies to bring those with offense backgrounds into the workforce.
Jaimee Lee is one such fair chance hire. She explained that her record stood in the way of getting a job — and supporting herself and her kids.
"I come with a colorful background, you know, and people look at me all the time and they see my background and they don't want to hire me. They don't want to believe in me. They don't want to hear my story," shared Lee.
However, she found a job as a quality analyst with transportation services company SendaRide.
According to Lee, "Now I'm able to raise my kids, I'm able to put food on the table, I'm able to put a roof over my kids' heads."
Timothy Tardibono, executive director of the Oklahoma County CJAC, shared that fair chance hiring programs keep former offenders in the workforce — and out of jail.
"As these diversion programs are getting more people in, the number of people going into prison has gone down over the last five years from Oklahoma County," asserted Tardibono.
According to him, connecting those with records to jobs is key in setting them up for success. Lee agrees.
"My background does not define me and I believe in, for every single person that is in the second chance program that, you know, their background should not define them," argued Lee.
Tardibono further added that past offenders go through a vetting process and meet eligibility requirements to qualify for the process.
A total of eight Oklahoma organizations got money from the Just Trust. The others are the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma, the Terence Crutcher Foundation, the Oklahoma Policy Institute, the Education and Employment Ministry, Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform, the Catholic Conference of Oklahoma, and the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs.
For more local news delivered straight to your inbox sign up for our daily newsletter by clicking here.