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According to the New York Times, an estimated 60% of people released from prison find themselves unemployed a year later. Entrepreneur and coach Trent Griffin-Braaf hopes to bring an end to the stigma against formerly incarcerated individuals by bringing awareness to the role they could play in the labor market.
Through his work, Griffin-Braaf aims to expose the misconceptions around formerly incarcerated individuals, while providing both them and their employers with the resources and support they need to successfully be employed after serving time.
Why formerly incarcerated individuals need to work
The United States currently faces a massive labor shortage, with data revealing 9.8 million job openings compared to only 5.9 million unemployed workers. However, there remains one solution that many businesses have failed to embrace: tapping into the market of formerly incarcerated individuals seeking gainful employment.
“The stigma against incarceration has caused many employers to look down on hiring these individuals,” says Griffin-Braaf, “despite them being ready, eager, and qualified to work.”
Another common misconception employers may have regarding formerly incarcerated individuals is that gaps on their resumes from their time served mean they are inexperienced and unqualified. According to Griffin-Braaf, in most cases, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
“While serving time, many incarcerated people get the opportunity to participate in educational or vocational programs designed to help them reintegrate as productive members of society upon their release,” Griffin-Braaf explains. “These programs provide valuable skills that prime formerly incarcerated individuals for the workforce.”
By supporting formerly incarcerated individuals, employers have the chance to not only fulfill their unmet labor needs, but also help these individuals stay off the streets. Numerous studies have shown that recidivism rates are significantly reduced among formerly incarcerated individuals who maintain gainful employment after their release.
How the Roadmap to Success program helps formerly incarcerated individuals and their employers
To help formerly incarcerated individuals reap the benefits of gainful employment and reintegration into society, Griffin-Braaf started the Roadmap to Success program. This program has two primary goals: providing formerly incarcerated individuals with the guidance and resources they need to be successful in the workplace, and guiding businesses to create more inclusive workplaces that better accommodate underserved populations — including formerly incarcerated individuals.
A key component of Griffin-Braaf’s Roadmap to Success program is individualized mentorship for each participant. “It’s important that we recognize every individual has a different experience,” he says. “Trying to treat one formerly incarcerated person as if their experience is the same as someone else’s — or worse yet, treating them as if they did not have that experience at all — only makes them feel alienated in the workplace. It’s essential to work with them to help them feel more comfortable on their own terms.”
Still, even though every person’s story is different, Griffin-Braaf believes in the power of sharing success stories to serve as an inspiration for others going through similar obstacles. Not only has he shared his own story as a formerly incarcerated man, but he also brings speakers to work with participants in the program for education and professional development.
However, the Roadmap to Success program doesn’t just offer guidance — it also offers actual, physical resources that can help formerly incarcerated individuals successfully reintegrate into society.
“One of the most valuable resources we offer is transportation to and from work,” Griffin-Braaf says, “and many formerly incarcerated individuals are required to keep a job as part of their parole. If they get fired from lack of transportation, they could end up back behind bars. The Roadmap to Success program provides participants with access to transportation, and is just one of many measures we can take to help reduce recidivism.”
Griffin-Braaf also has connections with several housing programs for formerly incarcerated individuals, to which he can point Roadmap to Success participants. “Housing programs give formerly incarcerated individuals a stable place to live,” he explains, “meaning they can worry less about where they will sleep that night, and more about how to improve themselves and their career.
As a formerly incarcerated person himself, Griffin-Braaf understands the importance of a good support system for formerly incarcerated individuals, having persevered and paved a path where he could be successful despite his circumstances. Now, he wants to help other formerly incarcerated individuals achieve the same level of success. In this way, both he and his Roadmap to Success program are perfect examples of how to give back to the community after overcoming adversity.
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Photo provided by the author.
