Hacker News Reader

Comment by RecycledEle | Hacker News Reader

The apparent lack of opportunities for anyone is easy to solve with Dorm Room Welfare:

Open free dorms next to the campuses of community colleges. Anyone who is physically able to live on their own, but who can not afford to live on their own can move in and live there as long as they are working towards being economically self sufficient.

Working towards being economically self sufficient can mean passing academic classes, passing career and technical education classes, taking remedial classes, completing a high school equivalency degree, passing K-12 classes online, earning certifications, working in internships, working jobs at a training wage, or other things

I suggest we replace all other welfare programs with drom room welfare.

This does not solve the problem that many of us do not want to hire convicted criminals.

View on HN

> This does not solve the problem that many of us do not want to hire convicted criminals.

The issue that keeps people from hiring ex-offenders isn't hard to solve:

One part is social. This one requires a little leadership and a little bit of re-defining what is an acceptable attitude.

The other part is a financial issue and is EASY to solve politically: most business insurers will raise rates or not insure companies that hire ex-offenders.

In my home state we were able to get a law passed that shifted liability for a hired ex-offender who committed a crime on the job to the state so insurers could not make hiring ex-offenders ridiculously expensive.

We were able to sell the idea to our legislators and local city councilors with a simple trade: the Democrat-controlled city council wanted to pass laws making it illegal not to hire ex-offenders. The Republican-controlled legislature wanted to give tax credits to businesses that hire ex-offenders. I suggested instead of passing unconstitutional laws or handing out corporate welfare we could solve the problem by making it illegal to charge more to insure a business that hires an ex-offender, and at the same time, absolving the insurer of having to pay claims because of the hire. The city and state decided to try it out, and it's helped a lot of people over the past eight years.

You could just make criminal background checks unlawful, which is the case in Ireland. There is police vetting for people who work with the vulnerable and certain key jobs, but the average person will never face vetting for a job.

The problem with this is that it encourages crime.

I know a really nice guy who went to prison for "stealing" cable TV. He's an electrician and a convicted felon. He is exceptionally productive, and has a ton of sense, but he's also a thief. His time in prison (in Texas) may have been what changed him, but he will never stop stealing.

After knowing him, I would not hire a convicted criminal who spent time in prison / jail.

> His time in prison (in Texas) may have been what changed him, but he will never stop stealing.

This is the attitude that needs to change. There is no proof that one act of theft results in a person having an uncontrollable urge to steal for the rest of their life.

  > This does not solve the problem that many of us do not want to hire convicted criminals.

Thank you for at least acknowledging this.

I'd wager that if people with convictions on their record, had even a 10-20% chance of being hired at a decent establishment, we'd see recidivism go down by a statistically significant amount.

I know the justice system. The grand majority of folks coming in and out of prison genuinely do not want better for themselves, it's a lifestyle choice that they've accepted (or resigned themselves to, depending on how you look at it).

But for the fractional percentage of incarcerated individuals that DO decide "Okay, I've had enough, I'm done with this and I want better for myself" and mean it, they aren't afforded such a luxurious opportunity for a bland life in suburbia.

This sounds like the deal I have had with my (young-adult) kids (who live at home).

Unfortunately, some parents believe in "tough love" (throw them into the ocean to learn them to swim).

Reply on news.ycombinator.com