Kansas City has a number of high-performing non-profit organizations that assist in providing job training and placement for returning citizens. However, many of these entities struggle to engage with the business community, especially with jobs that are impactful and offer livable wages and benefits. The KC Chamber Foundation proposes to bridge this disconnect and identify, educate and assist companies to develop fair hiring policies and work with non-profit partners to build a regional returning citizen talent pipeline. 

The single most important predictor in recidivism is joblessness.

Since the 1970’s, the number of persons in jails or prisons in Missouri has steadily increased. As the number of people incarcerated or holding a criminal record is increasing, so is the talent gap for jobs in the Kansas City. Currently, there are roughly 75,000 unfilled jobs in our region. While the U.S. is experiencing historically low levels of unemployment, 75 percent of formerly incarcerated individuals will not find work within one year of their release. The unemployment rate for returning citizens is 27 percent, compared to the national rate of 4 percent. The inability to find gainful employment costs the nation not only $87 billion in GDP loss, but increased rates of crime and recidivism.
 
The approach the KC Chamber Foundation will employ through the W.O.R.C. program will be a multi-stepped process engaging employers focused on hiring returning citizens. This includes an employer education series, workforce certification and the development of a centralized, online resource for returning citizens, non-profits and businesses. 

The employer education series will provide companies the opportunity to learn more about the justice system, employer resources and best practices. Employers will have access to a human resources toolkit, that will be developed through the W.O.R.C. program and tailored to the Kansas City region.

W.O.R.C. companies will provide input, and in conjunction with partnering organizations a job certification program will be developed that can be offered to returning citizens. The training will provide clients the opportunity to learn general work skills that are employer identified. The certification process will provide standardized training for returning citizens, allowing employers to have confidence that a candidate who is a returning citizen meets certain requirements.

As a result of W.O.R.C., the KC Chamber Foundation anticipates the following identified outcomes:

• At least six KC Chamber member businesses will have developed fair hiring policies towards returning citizens and hired a total of twenty formerly incarcerated persons. 

• At least twenty returning citizens will receive the standardized certification training.

• An employer education series that provides humanizing and educational information regarding the criminal justice system. 

• Human resource toolkit on fair hiring policies and resources. 

• Digital media assets that provide a centralized, online resource for returning citizens, non-profits and businesses.

While this programming is new to Kansas City, several Chambers across the nation have implemented effective programs to support employment for returning citizens such as the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and the Montgomery County, OH Chamber of Commerce. 

COMBAT Funding: $32,000.00