Prisoner Reentry at Work: Adding Business to the Mix

Convicted offenders need jobs when they leave prison but few people want to hire them. Spotlighting this thorny issue, Melvin Delgado explores the potential role of business enterprises in providing work to former prisoners and helping them to reconnect with their home communities.

Delgado documents the unconventional approaches of nonprofit businesses that deliberately and exclusively hire former inmates. He finds that employers can play a multifaceted role in helping ex-convicts to face life on the outside : beyond wages, for example, they may offer skill training, mentoring, and social support. As he evaluates the successes and failures reflected in his case studies, he provides a window on the complex interplay of social, economic, and institutional factors that can encourage, or prevent, a successful reentry process.