Ban the Box policies reduce job barriers for formerly incarcerated people

This article was originally published at Prism.

In 2013, Marilyn Reyes was in a peer program run by New York Harm Reduction Educators when she first learned about VOCAL-NY, a New York-based grassroots group mobilizing people directly impacted by HIV/AIDS, mass incarceration, the war on drugs, and homelessness. Through the organization, she learned about the Fair Chance Act and how it would eliminate questions about conviction history during the job application process, delaying it until only after the employer has issued a conditional job offer. Reyes’ advocacy and leadership around the anti-discrimination legislation, which was ultimately passed by New York State in 2015, would change her life in more ways than one.

“I fell in love with advocacy,” Reyes said. “I didn’t know that we could meet with politicians and advocate for ourselves and build people-power.”