Job applications in Los Angeles will no longer include questions about criminal history after Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti last week signed the “Fair Chance Initiative” into law.

Mayor Eric Garcetti speaks to attendees of the first-ever Fair Chance Hiring Fair.
(courtesy of Mayor Garcetti’s office)

The initiative restricts employers from inquiring about time served in prison until a job offer has been made, in hopes of removing unnecessary barriers to employment, lowering recidivism and providing a second chance to Angelenos with prior records.

“People who have served their time deserve an opportunity to provide for themselves and their loved ones, and rebuild their lives with integrity through hard work,” Garcetti said. “The Fair Chance Initiative opens up new opportunities for Angelenos who have been incarcerated – giving them a chance to redefine themselves.”

The ordinance will apply to all city contractors and private employers with 10 or more employees. Councilman Curren Price, 9th District, authored the motion that led to the ordinance. He cited a study from Princeton University that estimates that job applicants’ chances of being hired are reduced by 50 percent when they tell employers they were previously incarcerated.

“Without the stigmas, they will be judged on their skills and abilities,” Price said.

Councilman Mitch O’Farrell, 13th District, told his colleagues about his experiences managing stores for a private company 20 years ago, including when he decided to hire a former gang member.

“And when he came aboard and demonstrated an exceptional level of work ethic, he proved himself immediately,” O’Farrell said.

When O’Farrell decided to leave that company, he said, the man came up to him while fighting back tears and thanked him for changing his life by giving him a second chance.

“Conversely, I worked for a number of corporations where it was company policy and it was a rule in the company to not hire anyone that had a felony conviction anytime in their past. I also know the heartbreak of the applicants that I felt should have a second chance,” O’Farrell said.

Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson, 8th District, said the city should not endorse a system of continuous punishment. He cited inequalities in the justice system, such as the demographics of the 178,000 people in jail in California – almost half of the prison population is black, while only 8 percent of the state’s population is black ­– as reason for reform.

At a city council meeting on Nov. 30, employees from Homeboy Industries joined formerly incarcerated public activists, such as Rev. Gary Bernard Williams from South L.A., and spoke about the importance of hurdling the “the box” – referring to the question on job applications that asks if applicants have been convicted of a crime. They said a “prison sentence too often becomes a life sentence” by hindering people from reentering society.

Former police officer Councilman Joe Buscaino, 15^th District, said the new law can also help address the county’s unemployment rate.

“To those critics who feel they’re concerned about giving second chances to others who paid their debt to society, I encourage them to visit Homeboy Cafe just on the second floor, [and enjoy] the best chili in the city of Los Angeles served and made by former gang members and those that were formerly incarcerated,” he said.

According to the mayor’s office, an estimated one in four adult Californians has an arrest or conviction record on file with the state. While the California state recidivism rate is 65 percent, the recidivism rate of individuals placed in jobs shortly after release is estimated to range from 3 to 8 percent.

The passage of the Fair Chance Ordinance caps a series of city-led reforms to eliminate systemic bias against individuals who have completed their sentences in the criminal justice system.

In 2015, Garcetti established an Office of Reentry, which is now working with Caltrans to employ more than 1,300 formerly incarcerated people over the next three years.

“I personally have met individuals who have been haunted by past convictions and no matter how hard they try, are unable to get their lives on track,” Price said. “I’m encouraged for the future of persons with prior criminal convictions who will have a greater opportunity to rejoin society, gain back their dignity and self-worth, and create a better life for themselves and their families.”

O’Farrell said he will make sure the city’s Bureau of Contract Administration has the resources it needs to accomplish the desired results of this program.