PRISON FELLOWSHIP: Obama Administration

A diverse collection of companies is collaborating with the Obama administration in an attempt to remove hindrances for men and women seeking employment following incarceration.

The Fair Chance Business Pledge calls for employers to endorse hiring practices that provide former prisoners with an opportunity to succeed.

On Wednesday, March 30, President Obama announced the commutation of the sentences of 61 federal prisoners serving time for drug-related offenses.  The commutations are but the most recent attempt by the administration to draw attention to the need for criminal justice reform.

On March 30, Prison Fellowship Vice President for Advocacy and Public Policy Craig DeRoche offered the closing prayer as part of the annual White House Easter celebration.

Speaking in front of an audience at a New Jersey drug treatment center, President Obama announced on Monday the passing of an executive order that will prevent employers from asking potential federal employees on their job applications if they have a criminal record.

In a major criminal justice reform speech this week, President Obama brought attention to the steep rise in America’s prison population over the last few decades—and its collateral consequences for prisoners’ children.

“Around one million fathers are behind bars,” the president said.

For all the contentious, divisive issues that have recently dominated national headlines, there is one policy issue that continues to receive broad, bipartisan support—the need for meaningful sentencing and corrections reforms in the United States.  And with new efforts by President Obama to highlight the need for changes, the time may be right for a significant transformation in how we view prisons and the men and women inside them.