Newark Advocate: 'Orange' author visits Licking County to talk about re-entry
Truthout: Fighting for Seats at the Table: A Poor People's Movement in a Rustbelt Town
When Chris Wills got out of prison, he could not find a job. He applied, but no one would hire him because of his record. And then he started using drugs again.
In a moment of desperation, he went to talk with a friend who ran programs in the local jail. His friend didn't tell him to just get clean. He didn't tell him to just get a job. He gave him some advice that, in the moment, Wills thought was just weird. His friend told him to go meet with some community organizers from a group called the Newark Think Tank on Poverty... To read more, click here.
The Columbus Dispatch: Newark poised to join entities dropping ‘felon’ box
NEWARK, Ohio — The man identified himself only as No. 373882.
He said it was his former prison identification number and was, in reality, the only identification the city of Newark, and most of the rest of the world, really cared about when it came to finding a job.
A box, near the top of most employment applications, asks, “Have you ever been convicted of a felony?” Checking the box, many feel, is a sure path to the employment prospect discard pile... To read more, click here.
Denison Magazine: From the Inside Out
The Columbus Dispatch: Newark takes criminal inquiry off job forms