D.C. Council member Vincent Orange
D.C. Council member Vincent Orange (D-At-Large) held a hearing recently on a bill he introduced that would help returning citizens learn skills to start and operate businesses.
The hearing for the bill, which would create a $10 million operating fund, was held on Jan. 28. Called “The District of Columbia Incarceration to Incorporation Entreprenuership Program Act of 2015,” Orange’s bill calls for the Department of Employment Services and the Department of Small and Local Business Development to set up the program.
The legislation calls for the University of the District of Columbia and its community college to offer courses to returning citizens on business subjects and GED attainment, and provide scholarships and grants to help pay for the classes. Orange said keeping returning citizens positively engaged is the way to avoid criminal activity.
“Statistics have shown that within three years of coming home from prison, returning citizens will be re-arrested,” Orange said. “Stable employment is the key to keeping people out of prison and owning a business can be a part of that.”
There are an estimated 60,000 District residents with criminal records. Studies and testimonies from returning citizens reveal that even though the city has tolerant laws and public policy towards them, it is difficult for returning citizens to find employment. Skeptical employers have cited possible criminal activity and not wanting to deal with stigmatized employees as reasons for not hiring returning citizens.
Orange said returning citizens with stable jobs have a recidivism rate of only 7 percent as opposed to 51.8 percent according to U.S. Bureau of Justice statistics. The council member said that Oklahoma and Pennsylvania have programs similar to one he is proposing and they are considered national models of success.
Orange’s legislation has the support of D.C. Council member Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7). D.C. Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6) likes the idea but is worried about program implementation. “The incarcerated population is the hardest to reach,” Allen said. “I don’t think DOES serves returning citizens well and I want to make sure that DOES works for everyone. There is no shortage of really good intentions in this city and I hope that it reaches individuals who can be set up for success.”
A number of witnesses testified on Orange’s bill. No one voiced opposition to Orange’s concept but some had concerns about implementation and focus. “The bill could be improved by emphasizing cooperative businesses and should provide co-op specific business training,” said Eugene Puryear, director of field operations for the advocacy organization Justice First. Puryear wants Orange’s bill to include provisions to appoint a returning citizen on a panel that would oversee the program, to require a review by the council after its fifth year, and provide “a hard cap on the initial appropriation encourage program effectiveness and community input.”
Debra Rowe, the executive director of Returning Citizens United, testified in support of Orange’s bill, but said more support is needed for those participating in the program. “To start a business in the District of Columbia, you have to pay a lot of fees,” Rowe said. “The people that the legislation is designed to help generally cannot pay the fees to the city agencies that are needed to get their businesses going.”
Rowe doesn’t want the program Orange proposes to become “another certification for returning citizens.”
“We have every certification that you can think of but we can’t get the jobs,” she said. “I also think that businesses that are run by returning citizens that are successful certified business enterprises should mentor those who want to go into business.”
