A Fresh Start: Second Chance Tucson job fair connects formerly incarcerated people with employers, resources

For Tucson residents returning home after incarceration, finding a job can determine whether they are able to secure housing, access health care and rebuild connections with family and community. Second Chance Tucson recently brought those needs together at a job fair featuring nearly 40 employers and service organizations. The event offered opportunities in city government, construction, banking and other fields, while also connecting attendees with support for the challenges that can follow release.

William Spann attended looking for an opening after repeatedly encountering the limits of his criminal record. He said employers had offered him jobs, only to withdraw those opportunities after learning about his background. At the Second Chance Tucson event, he found an environment focused less on judgment and more on whether applicants were ready to work and move forward. For Spann, that approach offered something he has not often experienced: the possibility of being considered for what he can do now.

Second Chance Tucson has organized the job fair since 2014, helping people leaving incarceration meet employers and find services that can make reentry more stable. Executive Director Charles Pyle said people who have spent years in prison can emerge feeling separated from the communities to which they are returning. Events that bring employers, service providers and job seekers into the same space can help rebuild trust on both sides, he said. The program’s assistance extends beyond employment to housing, health care and other forms of community support.

Riggin Scott experienced that support firsthand. He connected with Second Chance while incarcerated, and the organization helped him find employers and resources after his release. He now works with Second Chance and the City of Tucson. Scott said the organization can help people pursue a broad range of paths, including construction, counseling, education and work assisting others with reentry. His experience also reflects the emotional weight of returning to the community, where stereotypes and assumptions can accompany a person long after release.

The need is significant even in a labor market where the overall unemployment rate was about 4% as recently as July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nationally, people who have been incarcerated face an unemployment rate above 27%, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. A 2022 RAND report found that nearly 46% of unemployed men in the United States had been convicted of a crime. Those figures help explain why a conventional job search can look very different for someone with a felony record, even when employers are hiring.

The challenge is not limited to Tucson, and other programs show how training and sustained assistance can help people remain employed. Jabarre Jarrett, who was worried about supporting his five children after prison, learned about Persevere while living in a halfway house in Tennessee. The organization provided coding instruction, a laptop and a stipend tied to completing the program. Jarrett earned front end and back end certifications, becoming a full stack web developer, and was later hired by Persevere. He now teaches web development and life skills, speaks with young people in juvenile facilities and visits prisons to encourage others pursuing a different future.

Programs such as Persevere pair job preparation with case management, transitional housing and mental health counseling, continuing to support graduates for a year after training. That broader model is important because employment can be difficult to sustain when a person is also dealing with unstable housing, health concerns or the disruption of reentry. Research cited in the national discussion found that employment status is among the strongest predictors of whether someone will reoffend. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that 62% of people released from prison in 34 states in 2012 were arrested again within three years, rising to 71% within five years.

Employers are increasingly being encouraged to treat second chance hiring as both a community responsibility and a workforce strategy. It can open access to a larger pool of workers, support diversity and inclusion efforts and, in some cases, provide a tax credit. The Second Chance Business Coalition, which includes companies such as JPMorgan Chase and Eaton, has more than 40 members promoting these practices. At least 37 states and 150 cities and counties have adopted ban the box policies that delay questions about convictions until later in the hiring process. Advocates caution that delaying the question does not eliminate the barrier, since employers may still request a background check after making a conditional offer.

Tony Lowden of ViaPath said checking a felony box can cause an application to be discarded before an applicant gets an interview. He argued that employers need to hire formerly incarcerated people, provide mentorship and help them remain in the workforce. Anthony Glover of Persevere similarly said successful employers create apprenticeships, internships and mentorships, secure support from leadership and provide ongoing training. In Tucson, Second Chance Tucson’s job fair puts those principles into practice by giving people like Spann a direct route to employers and services. For attendees, the event is not simply a hiring opportunity. It is a chance to begin rebuilding a working life with practical support and a community willing to recognize a person’s future, not only their past.