BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

New Laws In Ohio, Washington, D.C. Eliminate Barriers To Work With A Criminal Record

Following
This article is more than 3 years old.

Roughly one in three Americans now has a criminal record of some kind, while each year, more than 1.4 million people leave prison nationwide. One major barrier to economic security and upward mobility is occupational licensing, which today affects roughly one-fifth of the nation’s workforce and results in up to 1.8 million fewer jobs. 

Fortunately, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser signed landmark bills this past week that will make it much easier for people with criminal records to obtain licenses to work. Protections for ex-offenders seeking licenses were previously minimal in both places, but the District of Columbia and Ohio will soon have the second-best and third-best laws in the nation respectively, according to a recent report by the Institute for Justice, Barred from Working. (Indiana ranks number one overall.) These new licensing laws will dramatically expand economic opportunity for ex-offenders. 

Under the reforms in Ohio and the District, licensing boards will be required to give each applicant individualized consideration and must consider any evidence of rehabilitation as well as the time elapsed since the crime was committed. When considering a criminal conviction, boards can only deny applicants if someone’s conviction is “directly related” to the license sought. Boards will further be blocked from using arrests that didn’t result in a conviction, as well as expunged, sealed, or vacated records. In Ohio, the new law will also prevent boards from considering any conviction older than five years, unless it involved a sexual, violent, or fiduciary offense. 

To better inform the public and policymakers, the District and Ohio will both require boards to report how many people with criminal records applied for a license, and were denied or granted the credential. Though data is scarce, what can be cleaned from other states is encouraging. In Illinois, which has the best reporting on this topic, more 1,600 ex-offenders (including over 400 new nurses) have been granted licenses over the past two years. Just over 1% were denied because of their criminal record. However, ex-offenders typically accounted for just 1-2% of all licensing applicants, less than the proportion of Americans with a felony conviction (8%) and the one-third of Americans with any criminal record.

Since many licenses can be quite the burden to obtain, ex-offenders may be understandably reticent to invest their time and money compiling with the required coursework or training for a license. To address this, the District bill will create a predetermination process that allows applicants to petition the board at any time to see if their criminal record could be potentially disqualifying. This particular reform has already been enacted in Ohio and 16 other states and was even endorsed by the Trump Administration. 

“Blanket prohibitions that prevent individuals with criminal records from obtaining occupational licenses may exacerbate disparities in employment opportunity and increase the likelihood of recidivism, particularly as regulatory barriers to enter lower- and middle-income occupations are associated with higher recidivism rates,” President Donald Trump stated in an executive order last month. “Individuals with criminal records should be encouraged to submit to the appropriate licensure board a preliminary application for an occupational license for a determination as to whether the criminal record would preclude their attainment of the appropriate occupational license.”

Finally, both jurisdictions repeal “good moral character” requirements found across multiple licenses, ranging from dentists to interior designers. This maddeningly vague standard has long granted boards around the country enormous discretion to disqualify applicants with criminal records. For instance, a recent NBC News investigation found that the Pennsylvania Board of Cosmetology alone had rejected 58 applicants for lacking good moral character. But the decisions were often arbitrary. The board ultimately granted licenses to two people with homicide convictions yet denied licenses to women convicted on drug charges that happened decades ago.

All told, the reforms contained in these two laws ensure that ex-offenders can get a second chance, without jeopardizing public safety. Reflecting this common-sense approach, the bills passed the city council unanimously in Washington, D.C. and by all about two lawmakers in the Ohio Legislature.

“An honest living is one of the best ways to prevent re-offending. But strict occupational licensing requirements make it harder for ex-offenders to find work,” said IJ Activism Policy Manager Chad Reese, who submitted testimony in favor of the District bill. “This bill will eliminate many licensing barriers that have little basis in common sense and unfairly deny countless Americans looking for a fresh start.”

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn