ABOUT US

OUR MISSION

MJP will educate and inform both ex-offenders and employers about legislation relative to this cause, their responsibilities, and the positive impact that advocated initiatives can have on the community.

WHY "BAN THE BOX"?

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, there are currently 2.3 million people incarcerated in prisons and jails across America. Furthermore, roughly 30% of adult offenders released from state prisons are re-arrested within the first six months and 67% within their first three years of re-entry.

These recidivism rates are primarily due to the challenges that ex-offenders face when trying to enter the workforce. The residual effects of a criminal record continue to function as handcuffs when individuals are go home to their communities. One study, from the Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality, states that over 60% of employers would “probably not” or “definitely not” hire applicants with records, regardless of their qualifications. Furthermore, studies of hiring practices in a Midwestern city found that applicants who admitted to a criminal record were less than half as likely to be called back for an interview as equally qualified applicants without a criminal record.

Fortunately, in 2014, the City of Baltimore passed the historic Ban the Box legislation for private employment applications and, in doing so, removed a hurdle in accessing employment opportunities for the city’s returning population: a large demographic of Baltimore’s unemployed workforce. By “banning the box”, the legislation has made it illegal for employers to conduct a criminal-record check or ask an applicant about criminal history before they are given an offer of conditional employment. This serves to decreases the number of qualified applicants that are needlessly rejected. To date, the City of Baltimore is the only urban area in Maryland to take this proactive position.

However, according to one of our coalition partners, the National Employment Law Project, only six cities and four states have Banned the Box for private employers. Enforcing the Ban the Box legislation by educating and informing our city’s population relieves state expenditures by reducing the number of unemployed.

OUR STORY

In 2013, Maryland Justice Project (MJP) became the driving force behind what we believed to be the next logical step in the effort to support successful reentry and to reduce recidivism. Despite significant opposiiton, the legislation was passed and once again, Balitmore has the opportunity to be the catalyst to improve outcomes for those who have been in contact with the justice system.

WHAT'S NEXT?

In collaboration with our community partners, MJP is launching and leading the expansion of the Ban the Box initiative by engaging in a city-wide outreach & education campaign. Our role will to be to serve as the point organization on the initiative. We are creating and crafting messaging campaigns that we believe will resonate with both employers and job seekers, as well as creating and managing a comprehensive and inclusive education effort. Our goal is to increase the ex-offender workforce in Baltimore, Maryland by ten percent within the next year.

To be effective in this endeavor, our goals are the following:

Educate and enlighten 500 ex-offenders and business personnel about the current laws regarding hiring ex-offenders within the next year.
Create a fully functioning mobile application by January 2017 designed to link ex-offenders to employment opportunities by providing readily available information.
Create a database with employment statistics, including real-time changes in unemployment rates in consequence of legislation, that can be utilized to promote further initiatives aimed at leveling the playing field for ex-offenders.