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House Bill 605 Means More Employment for Ex-offenders

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA SESSION 2015 H 1 HOUSE BILL 605 Short Title: Reduce Unfair Barriers to Public Employment. (Public)

Sponsors: Representative R. Johnson (Primary Sponsor). For a complete list of Sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly Web Site. Referred to: Judiciary I, if favorable, State Personnel, if favorable, Commerce and Job Development.

April 13, 2015

*H605-v-1* 1 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 2 AN ACT TO REDUCE UNFAIR BARRIERS TO PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT BY 3 REQUIRING THAT A PUBLIC EMPLOYER NEITHER ASK ABOUT NOR 4 CONSIDER THE CRIMINAL RECORD OF A JOB APPLICANT UNTIL THE 5 APPLICANT HAS BEEN SELECTED BY THE EMPLOYER FOR AN INTERVIEW. 6 The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 7 SECTION 1. Article 5 of Chapter 15A of the General Statutes is amended by 8 adding a new section to read: 9 "§ 15A-151. Public employment; consideration of criminal history record. 10 (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a public employer shall not inquire into 11 or consider the criminal record or criminal history of an applicant for public employment until 12 the applicant has been selected for an interview by the employer. 13 (b) This section does not apply to the custody staff of the Divisions of Adult Correction 14 and Juvenile Justice of the Department of Public Safety or to public employers who have a 15 statutory duty to conduct a criminal history record check for a position or otherwise take into 16 consideration a potential employee's criminal history during the hiring process. 17 (c) This section does not prohibit a public employer from notifying applicants that law 18 or the employer's policy will disqualify an individual with a particular criminal history record 19 from employment in particular positions. 20 (d) For the purposes of this section, the term "public employer" means the State or a 21 local political subdivision of the State." 22 SECTION 2. This act becomes effective July 1, 2015, and applies to applications 23 for employment submitted on or after that date.

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Restoring Hope To Justice-Involved Women

Women offenders have special needs that often are not addressed during incarceration. As a result, transitioning from incarceration can be challenging and even impossible for many.

 

In 2021, there were roughly 228 women who returned to the Triangle area from state prison and in 2022, that number increased slightly to 232 (NC DPS - Office of Research & Planning, 2023). Also in 2022, there were more than 800 women serving their sentences on community probation throughout the Triangle area. Of both parolees and probationers, more than 80% were mothers of minor children and had the primary responsibility for their care prior to and following incarceration. Ex-incarcerated women are more likely than their male peers to experience higher levels of poverty, homelessness and abuse following a jail or prison term--making the post-prison transition much more difficult.

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Research suggests that focusing on the differences between female and male conduits to criminality as well as applying gender-specific interventions, results in more positive outcomes. In the end, the application of specialized practices in criminal justice reform equals greater success for women ex-offenders when attempting to re-establish new pathways to society. It is also proven that the implementation of community-based, gender-responsive practices contributes to lower rates of female recidivism which in turn benefits justice-involved women, their families, the community and society as a whole.

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