VOA新闻杂志2022--美国严重的劳动力短缺为前囚犯提供了机会

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Labor¹ Shortage Helps Former Prisoners Get Jobs

The United States' ongoing² labor shortage is bad for employers. But it also presents a chance for workers who often had a hard time finding jobs in better economic times: former prisoners.

Special training programs in Mississippi and other states are now trying to fill some of the 11.3 million open jobs in the U.S. by hiring former inmates⁴.

Antonio McGowan was a prisoner at the Mississippi State Penitentiary⁵. After serving 17 years, he was free for the first time since he was 15. But as an adult finally out of prison, he could only find low-paying jobs.

McGowan needed stable work, but all he could find were temporary jobs. He cut grass one week and painted a house the next. He could not find full-time⁶ employment and he found it hard to get a stable paycheck. Many of his bills started going unpaid⁷.

"Things weren't in place," McGowan said. "They weren't where I wanted them to be as far as being an individual back in society."

After several years, McGowan entered the Hinds⁸ County Reentry Program, a job-training program in Mississippi for former inmates created in October. The practice of employing people with a criminal record is known as "second-chance hiring."

In better economic times, many former prisoners faced serious difficulties in finding work. But the labor shortage created by the COVID-19 pandemic now presents them with opportunities, said Eric Beamon. He works for MagCor, a company that provides job training to people in Mississippi prisons.

Some studies have shown that stable jobs are a major factor in reducing recidivism⁹. Recidivism is when someone returns to prison after being released.

Still, not everyone is willing to hire a former prisoner. Stephanie Ferguson is an employment policy expert at the U.S. Chamber¹⁰ of Commerce. She wrote in a May report that a lack of job opportunities for those with criminal records is hurting workforce¹¹ participation¹² in the economy.

The National Conference of State Legislatures found that barriers to work that felons¹³ face were connected to a loss of at least 1.7 million employees from the economy. It also cost the economy at least $78 billion in 2014. That is the year McGowan left prison.

But the work shortage could create a change. And programs like Hinds County Reentry and MagCor can help by training former prisoners to reenter society. The programs also connect them with jobs that match their skills and interests.

McGowan said he would like to work in air conditioning and heating repair. The program's workers recommended him to Upchurch Services, a Mississippi-based company that permits workers to take classes in repair services while getting experience in the job. McGowan was hired the second week of May.

He makes $15 an hour and works 40 hours each week. He has full health care coverage¹⁴. And, he said, he loves the work.

In addition to skills training, the workforce reentry programs can provide former inmates with mentors¹⁶ who can help them with life after prison. A mentor¹⁵ is someone who teaches or gives help to a less experienced person.

Savannah Hayden was released from prison in November. Her mentor is Cynetra Freeman. Freeman is the founder¹⁷ of the Mississippi Center for Reentry. The organization offers work-training programs to inmates preparing to leave prison.

Freeman remembers going to an employment agency the day after she was released from prison. She said the agency told her she would never get a job because of her criminal record.

Hayden thought she might work temporary jobs and try to make enough money. But Freeman told her to use her experience as a former inmate³ to help others reentering society. Hayden now works for Freeman as the mental health and drug addiction¹⁸ coordinator¹⁹ at the Center for Reentry.

"After so many doors are slammed in your face, you get tired of asking," Hayden said. "But there will be a person who says ‘yes,' and that will change your life."

Words in This Story

inmate — n. a person who is kept in a prison or mental hospital

stable — adj. in a good state or condition that is not easily changed or likely to change

hire — v. to give work or a job to in exchange for wages or a salary

opportunity — n. an amount of time or a situation in which something can be done

participation — n. to be involved with others in doing something

felony — n. a serious crime

coordinator — n. a person who organizes people or groups so that they work together properly and well

slam — v. to close in a forceful way that makes a loud noise

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

3 inmate   

n.被收容者；(房屋等的)居住人；住院人

参考例句：

• I am an inmate of that hospital.我住在那家医院。
• The prisoner is his inmate.那个囚犯和他同住一起。

4 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 penitentiary   

n.感化院；监狱

参考例句：

• He worked as a warden at the state penitentiary.他在这所州监狱任看守长。
• While he was in the penitentiary her father died and the family broke up.他坐牢的时候，她的父亲死了，家庭就拆散了。

6 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

7 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。

8 hinds   

n.（常指动物腿）后面的( hind的名词复数 )；在后的；（通常与can或could连用）唠叨不停；滔滔不绝

参考例句：

• He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places. 诗18:33他使我的脚快如母鹿的蹄、使我在高处安稳。 来自互联网
• He makes my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places. 33他使我的脚快如母鹿的蹄，又使我在高处安稳。 来自互联网

9 recidivism   

n.累犯，再犯

参考例句：

• Many areas and work units have experienced no recidivism at all for as long as ten or more years.不少地区和单位出现了连续几年、十几年没有发生重新犯罪的好典型。
• It needs to supplement the personality factor to confirm the ordinary recidivism.在普通累犯成立的条件中,应增加罪犯的人格因素。

10 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

11 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

12 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

13 felons   

n.重罪犯( felon的名词复数 )；瘭疽；甲沟炎；指头脓炎

参考例句：

• Aren't those the seats they use for transporting convicted felons? 这些坐位不是他们用来押运重犯的吗？ 来自电影对白
• House Republicans talk of making felons out of the undocumented and those who help them. 众议院共和党议员正商议对未登记的非法移民以及包庇他们的人课以重罪。 来自互联网

14 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

15 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

16 mentors   

n.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的名词复数 )v.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Beacham and McNamara, my two mentors, had both warned me. 我的两位忠实朋友，比彻姆和麦克纳马拉都曾经警告过我。 来自辞典例句
• These are the kinds of contacts that could evolve into mentors. 这些人是可能会成为你导师。 来自互联网

17 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

18 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

19 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？