“Ban the Box” – part of a national effort to delete the box on job applications that asks if a person has been convicted of a felony – is before the Unified Government Commission.
About 29 persons attended a UG Administration and Human Services Standing Committee meeting Monday night in support of taking the box off the UG’s job applications. About 350 signatures were received on a petition in support of banning the box.
According to supporters, the goal of the effort is to help more ex-felons get jobs. As it is, they are often screened out before getting consideration or a job interview because of the box they checked on the application form, supporters of the effort said. Because the incarceration rates of minorities are higher, the boxes on job applications asking about felonies are automatically excluding more minorities, according to supporters of this effort.
Commissioner Tarence Maddox, who is supporting it, said “Ban the Box” is backed by several groups including the NAACP. In Wyandotte County, about 13 to 15 percent of the population are felons, and many reside in the urban core, he said.
While “Ban the Box” is not the sole answer to poverty, it serves as one answer in a starting point to create opportunities for persons who may have made a mistake in their lives, Maddox said. Not having a job often means re-incarceration, he added. Felons who have done their time and paid their debt to society should have the same fair chance as any other citizen in applying for a job, he said. He added that they were paying taxes and deserved the same right to be considered for a local government job.
While removing the box from the application does not guarantee anyone a job interview, it does provide a fair chance for an opportunity for an interview, he said.
The proposed change would allow the UG to ask about applicants’ felonies later, after job interviews are completed.
State law says law enforcement officers cannot have felony convictions, and the proposed change will exempt law enforcement, the Police and Sheriff’s Department, community corrections and the district attorney’s office.
Fire Chief John Paul Jones said that he was concerned, that there was a public safety issue and a public trust issue was associated with it. He also said that if any firefighters currently working are convicted of a felony, they would have to be terminated under the current rules.
Commissioner Hal Walker said he was troubled by blanket exemptions for the Police and Fire departments, as they have a lot of civilian employees who do clerical work. There are some persons who, for example, used marijuana for a brief period in their youth and then changed their behavior, who might be qualified to do clerical work or mechanic work in these departments, he believes. His remarks were applauded.
“I agree I don’t want felons being sworn police officers,” he added.
Interim Police Chief Ellen Hanson said, “In our profession, there is literally no civilian employee who walks into one of our police buildings who will not have access to confidential information.”
She said the Police Department has a big challenge in maintaining the public trust. Once on board, if employees commit a criminal offense, they have to be terminated from employment, she said. It is better for the Police Department to know all the information about an individual up front, she added, so a decision can be made early.
Commissioner Mike Kane was supportive of the general idea of “Ban the Box,” but wanted to add the Fire Department to the list of exempt agencies for the same reasons the Police Department is exempt. According to officials, the Fire Department receives a lot of applications, and there was a need to screen the applicants using the applications.
The “Ban the Box” change including exemptions for law enforcement, community corrections, district attorney’s office, and the Fire Department moved forward with the approval of the committee, and will come before the full UG Commission at a later date.
During the public comment period, Harold Johnson, pastor of Faith Deliverance Family Worship Center in Kansas City, Kan., told the commissioners that the odds are stacked against people who are returning to the community and need jobs.
“It’s going to help to give those returning citizens another chance,” he said. “This is a step in the right direction.”
Rick Behrens, pastor of Grandview Park Presbyterian Church, said “banning the box” would be the first step in making sure that people have equal access to jobs.
Damon Daniel, regional organizing director for Communities Creating Opportunities, said the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has said that a conviction must have a strong connection to the roles and responsibilities of the job in order for a felony to be considered in the job application process. He said that “banning the box” would protect the UG as an employer from discriminatory practices.
Brenda Shivers, a resident, said she thought the Fire Department should be included in the “Ban the Box,” and she thought that more minorities should be hired on the Fire Department since its employees are predominantly nonminority.
A mayor’s task force is currently addressing the issue of increasing the diversity of the public safety departments in Kansas City, Kan.