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We firmly believe that it is imperative to offer employment and entrepreneurial opportunities to nonviolent ex-offenders on a national level.  We further believe that much of the violence which seems to be a daily occurrence in many urban communities is one result of hopelessness related to the inability of many young men and women to find jobs that offer livable wages.

Systemic exclusion of ex-offenders from obtaining decent jobs in the U.S. is very often found at the core of that hopelessness.   By  injecting web technology into career development objectives for ex-offenders  we will reduce that hopelessness.

Many ex-offenders very often experience serious problems finding appropriate, permanent, unsubsidized, and moderately well-paying employment because they lack job-seeking experience, a marketable work history and relevant occupational skills. Furthermore, many employers refuse to hire individuals with criminal records. It should be noted however, that frequently a very large percentage of those individuals are victims of circumstances beyond their control.

Our extensive research suggests that one or more factors usually contribute to an individual's inability to compete for a "good job." Poor parenting and substandard education,  particularly in middle childhood, seem to have the greatest negative impact on future job seekers.  In addition, many individuals will very often become involved in some form of criminal activity as a result of being unemployed or underemployed.

Underemployment is a condition whereby an individual has the intellect, ability and desire to effectively meet the challenges of a particular position but has to settle for  a much lower paying position because of certain perceived deficits by potential employers. Very often underemployment leads to unemployment. In the case of ex-offenders, these circumstances seriously affect the ex-offender’s stability because unemployment is consistently associated with high recidivism rates.

"When we constrain the ability of ex-offenders to obtain employment that provides livable wages, we are in essence, forcing them back into a life of crime which results from personal financial desperation!"

   

Myron Anderson, CEO

The A.J.A. Research Group

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“Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.”   Matthew 25:41-46