How individuals with criminal backgrounds reenter the workforce in Southeast Minnesota

Yahoo

19-04-2025

Apr. 19—ROCHESTER — Jason Randall was released from prison four years early after the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled that he was wrongfully convicted in Clay County for selling narcotics.
Randall spent many years of his life in and out of courthouses, jail and prisons, so when a law enforcement officer pulled him over in 2022, his past DWI convictions resurfaced.
In 2022, Randall was charged with five felony counts relating to selling drugs. After two years of fighting his case, the court of appeals ruled that the traffic stop should not have been expanded into a field sobriety test and a vehicle search because law enforcement only noted his behavior as being "unusual" after discovering his past convictions.
Now, for the seventh time, Randall is working to rebuild his life beyond the bars.
"When you first get out, there's an adjustment period," Randall said. "It goes from being super loud all the time to now it's quiet. There's not the hustle and bustle of being inside."
With seven felony convictions still on his background, Randall has spent the last six months finding work and studying.
His weekdays are spent working around Southeast Minnesota as a fiber optic technician for a cabling company in Rochester. On Saturdays and Sundays, he works nine-hour days at Taco Bell. The nights he's not at Bible study, he focuses his time studying remotely to earn a bachelor's degree from the Los Angeles Film School.
"I'm trying to put that energy towards good things," Randall said. "That's why I stay as busy as I do."
Since being released, Randall said there has been one major change compared to previous times he's been in custody: Robyn Wood, his probation officer.
Wood, who works as an Olmsted County probation officer specialist, said she provides her clients with resources and connections to meet them where they are.
"Our ultimate goal is to avoid them getting new charges or creating a new victim, but the reality is it can still happen," Wood said.
In the Department of Corrections' annual report, 62% of formerly incarcerated individuals remained free of reconvictions after being released. The DOC calculates adult recidivism by looking at whether formerly incarcerated individuals were reconvicted within three years after they were released.
To avoid seeing her clients face reconviction and reincarceration, Wood said their office aims to provide the individuals with as many resources that they need, from financial guidance to a support system.
"Somebody's offense shouldn't dictate the rest of their life," Wood said. "Folks do change."
Randall said after Wood helped him find the money to pay his apartment's security deposit, she sat down with him to create a budget — something that his other probation officers had never been willing to do with him.
Since setting up his budget and establishing his seven-day work routine, Randall has been able to save up little by little. But the journey to finding jobs with felony convictions hasn't always been easy.
When Randall enters a job interview, he opens up about his past almost immediately.
"Ban the Box," a Minnesota law passed in 2009, requires employers to consider an applicant's skills and experiences before inquiring about their criminal record. Employers must wait to ask until the interview stage.
Rather than waiting for the employer to ask, Randall said he prefers to be the one to bring his background up and ask the company about their policies surrounding hiring convicted felons.
Once, Randall found out mid-interview that the maintenance position he was interviewing for would require him to work with handicapped individuals. He asked the hiring manager if his background would impact his application. He was told he wouldn't be eligible for the job, but the hiring manager offered to continue the interview. Randall declined.
"It's just wasting your time and mine," he said.
While some companies disallow individuals with any felony convictions, other companies are only particular about the type of felony committed. Certain convictions, including sex offenses and theft-related charges, make the job process more complicated, Wood said.
"No matter the circumstance — it may have been a survival thing or something that happened five, six years ago — a lot of employers will see that and just feel that it's risky behavior that might be repeated," Wood said.
For Randall, once he learns about the company's policies, he uses the remainder of the interview as an opportunity.
"It gives me time to turn that negative around by the end of the interview because I can talk about all the good things I've done since then," he said.
According to Tonya Naylon, a reentry career navigator with Workforce Development, this approach is just one way she encourages her participants to bring up their past in the interview process.
Naylon, who works across 10 counties in Southeast Minnesota, helps individuals with criminal backgrounds find employment that aligns with their strengths and skills.
Before they head into an interview, Naylon said she has her clients write down their personal statement, which allows the individual to take accountability for their past actions while showing that they are ready for a fresh start.
She said she instructs the participants to read or hand the employer a copy of the statement during the interview.
"Ultimately, we want the participant to be comfortable in whatever choices they make during the interview," Naylon said. "It's their interview, their time to shine."
As for directly addressing their background, Naylon said there's no right time to do it.
"Say what you need to say but keep it brief," she said. "What I believe is most important is owning what you did and then explaining why that's not going to impact your future employment."
When individuals are released from prison, Naylon said she often notices a mix of hope and anxiety. However, their emotions tend to lean toward frustration after receiving multiple rejections from jobs.
The rejections can be harmful after some time, especially for individuals who need to provide for themselves and their families, Wood said. Some of her clients are often saying: "I need to provide, I need to survive, and I need a job."
The "job" doesn't need to be the one that will bring them out of poverty or fully support a family, Wood said. It needs to be a job that will get them back on their feet and contributing to society.
She said finding a job and establishing financial independence can motivate her clients to continue on the right path. When her clients have the finances to pay bills, provide for their families and pay off fines, they develop a new sense of pride in their accomplishments at work.
"They're contributing back to the community in a positive way," Wood said. "They're spending their time productively and not idly."
Wood will often point these clients to fast food restaurants, car washes and labor-intensive jobs, such as lawn care and roofing.
Though it wasn't enough to fully support him, Randall began working over 20 hours a week at a Taco Bell three weeks after he was released. He continues to work there on the weekends and uses the money to help pay for child support.
"In my experience, if you want to work, there's a job," Randall said. "You might not like the job, but there's work."
Shortly after being hired at Taco Bell, he began working as a fiber optic technician in Rochester.
While in Faribault's correctional facility, Randall took a four- to six-month course on cabling technology, called the C-Tech program. The experience he gained while in prison allowed him to use the transferable skills within weeks of being released.
"When you're in there," Randall said, "you just kind of do what you can."
Wood said that when people take advantage of the programs offered in prison, there's a higher chance that they will reenter the workforce with a higher-paying job or even a career.
According to the Department of Corrections, 18 different Career and Technical Education programs are offered at various correctional facilities. The prisons also offer programs to pursue their GED and bachelor's and associate's degrees. In addition to participating in the C-Tech program, Randall said he enrolled in some college courses, including creative writing, art and biology.
The Minnesota Department of Corrections also offers a voluntary employment service program that provides work readiness and job search preparation. The EMPLOY program, created in 2006, works with individuals who have two years or less to serve in their sentence and aims to reduce recidivism. Participants have the opportunity to work in the MINNCOR or food service industries, participate in the Prison Fellowship Academy, earn a Career Tech Certification, or get involved in the Challenge Incarceration Program.
Prior to being released from the correctional facilities, participants spend time preparing for interviews, identifying skills, drafting an elevator speech to introduce themselves and creating a resume that matches their skills and interests.
"All of this increases the participant's confidence about their skills and ability to market themselves to potential employers," Brown said.
According to JoAnn Brown, the employment services director for the Minnesota Department of Corrections, EMPLOY has offered its services to over 8,000 individuals. A January 2025 report found that participation in EMPLOY lowered the risk of re-incarceration for a new felony by 46% while completion of the program resulted in a 59% lowered risk of re-incarceration.
"They're not looking at me. They're looking at my past mistakes." Those are the lines Naylon often hears from the individuals she works with, but the stigma surrounding people with criminal backgrounds isn't true for everyone, she said.
Naylon said employers are hesitant to hire someone with a background, despite the individual being fully qualified. Part of her job involves traveling to different employers in Southeast Minnesota to educate them on the positives of "Second Chance hiring," or hiring an individual with a background.
"They've done their time, they've learned their lessons," she said. "They just want another chance to show that they've changed."
According to Naylon, employers who have hired individuals with backgrounds experience lower turnover rates, access to a broader talent pool and the possibility for financial incentives.
"Felons have an insurance policy," Randall said.
The Federal Bonding Program (FBP), created by the United States Department of Labor in 1966, gives fidelity bonds to employers when hiring people whose backgrounds may harm them when trying to secure employment. Industries, including hospitality, retail, construction, transportation, auto repair and manufacturing, have integrated the FBP into their hiring practices.
According to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), out of the 40,000 nationally issued bonds, only 1% have had claims filed against them.
Businesses that hire people with a criminal background can also earn a tax break, Naylon said. The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) is available to all private sector businesses as an incentive to hire individuals from groups that experience high unemployment rates, according to DEED.
However, not all employers can simply begin hiring people with felony convictions, Naylon said.
"Some employers, they may be willing to hire somebody that has a history," Naylon said. "However, their policies don't allow for it, and that's totally out of their control."
By educating different employers, Naylon said the goal is to spread the word, encourage them to talk about their policies and enable them to begin thinking about the changes that may be beneficial to their company.
"People make a mistake, and they want to do better," Naylon said. "They understand they have done their time. They don't want it to be held against them forever because they're different — they've changed."