Jobs for Life helping those harmed by too-punitive justice system

As a leader for Jobs for Life, a faith-based community group in Raleigh, I get a front-row seat to the devastating realities and consequences of our punitive criminal justice system. This system has created a growing underclass of people trapped in poverty, due in large measure to the incarceration of people of color on a staggering scale. Breaking this cycle of marginalization requires solutions that restore relationships rather than perpetuating poverty and dependency that make rehabilitation almost impossible.

Organizations such as mine, as well as the Christian Community Development Association, mobilize churches to address the effects of joblessness and incarceration not through handouts, but rather via the dignity of work and the building of mutually beneficial relationships through mentorship. Helping someone get and keep a job is immensely more effective at alleviating poverty than creating dependency or through criminalizing behavior that should be addressed as mental illness or addiction issues. When we take the time to treat root problems and restore relationships that have been broken, true rehabilitation occurs.

When people hit hard times – whether through job loss, misfortune or their own mistakes – their relationships break, and they often lose their dignity when they must receive basic necessities from others. Too often in these situations, organizations foster dependence when they get efficient at giving away goods and people lose their ability or motivation to fend for themselves.

Relationships are also broken when an offense is committed against an individual and the state administers punishment without working to reconcile the victim and the person committing the offense. In the war on drugs in America, behavior is deemed criminal, and people get caught up in our criminal justice system.

Jobs for Life helps restore relationships. Leaders are equipped to serve as mentors to those suffering chronic joblessness and poverty. Together, student and mentor go through a course of study on removing obstacles to getting and keeping good employment by focusing on identity, character and community. Often, a turn of roles takes place as mentors become students when the gifts and talents of students are revealed and given a chance to blossom. Through friendship, networking and a comprehensive curriculum, students overcome mountainous obstacles and obtain meaningful employment.

However, the obstacle of incarceration is proving to be one of the toughest to overcome. More and more, we are experiencing the creation of an underclass of people of color permanently locked up or locked out of American society. Part of the challenge of solving this problem is that so few people are aware of it – especially in the faith community. That’s why this week churches and faith-based community groups will observe Locked In Solidarity, a nationwide witness of vigils and public events expressing solidarity with the prisoner and calling for an end to destructive mass incarceration policies.

Over 4,000 students graduated from Jobs for Life classes last year, with 64 percent gaining meaningful employment. A large percentage of these graduates were formerly incarcerated. Time after time we encounter rising joy, hope and trust in formerly incarcerated students as they awaken to their own inherent dignity and the reality that there are people concerned about them and willing to walk with them. Then, more often than not, that light flickers, dims and disappears as the reality of the systemic obstacles presented by our criminal justice system take hold.

While Jobs for Life is giving over 5,000 people a shot at redemption through its program every year, the sheer number of people caught up in our criminal justice system and experiencing the effects of incarceration is overwhelming and seemingly impossible to overcome.

Our system is making our society more unstable rather than safer. We are too effective at building a system that creates dependencies and is quick to criminalize behavior rather than treat illnesses that drive that behavior. We must move into the 21st century and begin addressing root problems leading to poverty. We must empower people to stand on their own rather than make them dependent or permanently saddle them with a label they cannot overcome.

This story was originally published February 10, 2016 at 5:24 PM with the headline "Jobs for Life helping those harmed by too-punitive justice system."