New Haven Independent

Slow Start For Post-Prison Effort

by Melinda Tuhus | December 21, 2007 9:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

tommy%20ventura.jpg Ex-felon Tommy Ventura thought he had a job — and a shot at straightening out his life — thanks to a state program that offers businesses to “get a bonus while helping others.”

That’s the introduction to a program listed on the state Department of Labor’s website called the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, or WOTC. It allows employers to hire people from any of nine categories of hard to employ or especially deserving groups, and claim up to 40 percent of the first 400 hours the person works, with a cap of $6,000.

The groups are those receiving welfare, food stamps or long-term family assistance, high-risk youth, summer youth employees, veterans, Supplemental Security Income recipients, vocational rehab participants, and ex-felons.

For FY 2007 (Oct. 1, 2006 to September 30, 2007), according to data from the Labor Department, 127 ex-felons who resided in New Haven were hired through WOTC, but not all with New Haven employers. In fact, only three companies based in New Haven hired ex-felons during that year: Stop & Shop, Burger King, and Milford Barrel Company.

Calls to the corporate offices of the first two yielded no information by deadline. At Milford Barrel, a woman answered the phone who declined to give her name, but she said the company had hired “quite a few” ex-felons since the end of 2006 who are men on probation from New Haven programs like Crossroads, Roger Sherman House and Walter Brooks House.

She said she thought the company learned about the program through receiving a letter, adding that she thinks it’s a good program for ex-offenders “to help them and get them back on their feet.” She acknowledged the company benefits, too, if hires work at least the minimum number of hours, and so far everything has gone smoothly.

The problem of ex-felons returning to New Haven and being unable to find a job is a big concern of the DeStefano administration. An estimated 25 ex-felons are delivered to the city from state jails every week; the city now plans to put together an ambitious “re-entry” program in 2008 . (Click here to read a Register story on that subject.)

“Our big aim is to help reintegrate former inmates into the life of the community so that we avoid recidivism,” said Community Services Administrator Kica Matos. Without legitimate jobs, many ex-felons end up pursuing the lines of work that sent them to prison in the first place.

Matos said the numbers coming to the city from prison dwarfs the numbers of ex-felons finding jobs through WOTC. Although ex-prisoners can and do find jobs without going through this program, the stories of ex-cons who get turned down time after time for employment are legion.

Tommy Ventura (pictured above) is an ex-felon who said he applied for a job at Wal-Mart on Foxon Boulevard, acknowledging on the application that he had a felony conviction (for credit card fraud, he said).

“I got my hopes up,” he said, after he filled out the application, had an interview, passed a drug test, and was told what days and hours he’d be working and what he’d be doing in the store. He said he was told he’d be starting within a few days of finishing the process, but he never got a call.

“I think that’s discrimination,” he complained, sure that what sunk his chances was his ex-felon status.

Wal-Mart assistant manager Dennis Martinez said after the application process is complete — including two interviews and a drug test — “then we send that application to corporate, electronically, and it comes back compatible or not compatible.”

Several calls to Wal-Mart’s corporate public relations office in Benton, Arkansas, failed to yield any information on the company’s stance vis a vis hiring ex-felons. In an email message, company spokeswoman Sharon Weber wrote, “… we review applications on a case-by-case basis and our goal is to hire the most qualified person for the posted job. I wouldn’t be able to address individual cases since we don’t discuss personnel decisions publicly.”

Wal-Mart is one of 47 companies operating in Connecticut that applied for the WOTC for all categories last year, and one of 30 that’s signed up so far this year (beginning Oct. 1). Click here for the whole list. Only Stop & Shop, Burger King and Milford Barrel actually received the certifications.

For anyone wondering if companies can apply for the tax credit after hiring someone in one of the nine categories, then collect even if the person quits or is fired, the answer is yes — if the employee works between 120 and 400 hours. In that case, the company can claim 25 percent of the first-year wages (rather than 40 percent). If he or she works less than 120 hours, the company gets zilch.

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Comments

Posted by: Walt | December 21, 2007 10:16 AM

I used to direct the area office of the National Alliance of Business, but never really pushed their program of soliciting jobs for ex-cons.

They even had a honcho at Wash.D.C. headquarters whose main qualification it seemed, was his history as a convicted embezzler.

Dont forget, while securing jobs for ex-felons seems like a good idea, each job so- reserved locks out mere misdemeanor - cons and freezes out the really unpopular guy (to the liberals)-- the poor schmuck (not a bad word I hope) who never broke a law in his life.

A quandary!

Posted by: westvillecharlie | December 24, 2007 12:20 PM

this is an area where having all of the undocumented / illegal workers in new haven has actually taken jobs away from people. the newly returned to society men who've spent the last years "paying their debts to society" now have to compete with men who have chosen to come here illegally. where is the outrage from people against injustice, or the other support groups for convicted men?

Posted by: eli | December 29, 2007 1:07 AM

Exactly wvcharlie, if for not other reason, new haveners should realize our amazing guest workers are in fact taking the place of those americans returning from incarceration in the workforce. period.

Posted by: Edward_H | December 30, 2007 1:55 PM

"I think that's discrimination," he complained, sure that what sunk his chances was his ex-felon status.

So it is discrimination for one of the largest retailers in the country to deline to offer employment to someone convicted of credit Card fraud? Does this guy actually think customers would feel comfortable giving Wal-mart their personal information in this age of identity theft if it were well know that Wal-mart is hiring ex-cons convicted of Credit card fraud? Wal-mart has enough image problems without picking up anymore. I suppose the next sob story we will hear about is some child molester complaining about not being offered a job at Toys R Us.

Melissa Tuhus
How are these people ex-felons? Even if Tommy Ventura has served his sentence he is still a felon unless his conviction has been expunged or overturned. He is more properly described as a felony ex-convict. This ex-felon business only makes sense if you are trying to manipulate the thinking of people who happen to read this article. Much like the way the NHI does by describing every illegal alien as an "undocumented worker."

Posted by: cedarhillresident | December 31, 2007 12:05 PM

I am not an Ex felon. I am a single mother. I found it hard to get a job! So to work 3 crappy jobs with no benefit to support my family was the only option for me. 7 days a week to feed my kids. No child support (because that department will not help single mothers get there child support my ex owes me 74,000 dollars in child support! and I still get the run around from the courts from trying to get help getting that money!!) My ex makes more than me!!) I applyed for jobs in the city for 2 decades!! With not even one call back!! And now I hear they want to hire convicts!! And this man is upset about discrimination because he comminted a crime! Well hear is my advice...

do what I did ... clean toilets take 3rd shift crappy jobs and build a resume. It is a sacrifice of your life but at some point that hard work will give you your chance. You committed a crime, and now your life is being effected by it! Ohh well, don't be so dam picky take what ever crappy work you can get and do that job 150% better than everyone else does and your hard work will be noticed. But guess what it may take a decade or two.
I am sorry I seem so bitter about this but I did nothing wrong and I was in the same boat as a convict. No one rolled out a red carpet to help me! I had to sew it one stitch at a time by myself! and even now I still only have a door mat to stand on!
Stop feeling sorry for yourself and relize that life is not fair, we make of it what we can and we make the best of what it offers. Hang on to the small things, the love of family and friends the fact that there is some kind of food on the table. and some clothes on your back...because there is always someone out there that has it worse than you. Be thankful for what you have. And work hard and be honest and know that at the end of the day you can lay in bed knowing you did the best you could!

Posted by: Walt | December 31, 2007 2:11 PM

God bless you Cedar Hill. You made my point better than I did.

Posted by: _meh | January 7, 2008 11:52 AM

CedarHill, although your message makes sense when directed to those who constantly bitch and moan, I think it sends the message that we should be content with meritocracy. While you may find happiness with present possessions [both tangible and intangible], many others out there don't wish to limit their reach. They want to enjoy life to it's fullest, even at the risk of failing or not being "politically correct." And it is these people who have done more to positively shape this world because they wouldn't accept the norm, they wouldn't stop reaching for the stars, and they constantly set the bar.

While I understand your position of not having committed a crime and still getting less than what you feel you deserve - I think it's a cop out to hold anger [or whatever you wish to label it] against those you feel superior to. You, after all, are not as innocent as you'd like to believe. While I'm not blaming you for being the root cause of your situation, you certainly had a hand in it. It takes two when it comes to relationships and marriages. At the same time, no one is so incompetent that even with a clean record they just can't seem to offer society anything beyond taxes. If you see a trend of being turned down time and time again, perhaps the problem is not with the company/companies, but with how you presented yourself, what you said during the interview, were you even qualified in the first place? Are you a person with good work skills? Fairly decent aptitude? Positive outlook? Personable? Eager to learn new skills? Willing to learn from the bottom up? Do you want to go back to school? Things like that which are within your control. Everyone has room for improvement, even you, even me. I will not accept that because you aren't willing to look within that the rest of us should shut-up because of your extensive experiences of being rejected.

Slow Start For Post-Prison Effort

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