As Louisiana continues to grapple with its high incarceration rate—the highest in the nation, as a matter of fact—workforce reentry programs have emerged as a critical component of the push to reduce recidivism.
Organizations across the state—business groups, governmental agencies and nonprofits included—are stepping up to offer formerly incarcerated individuals pathways to employment.
Such efforts seek not only to break the cycle of incarceration but also to restore dignity to those rejoining society—all while strengthening Louisiana’s workforce.
REBUILDING A LIFE
For formerly incarcerated individuals, stable employment and stable housing are the two most important factors when it comes to reducing the risk of recidivism.
That’s according to Andrew Hundley, executive director of the Louisiana Parole Project, a Baton Rouge nonprofit with a stated goal of helping those individuals rebuild their lives.
“People with stable employment and stable housing generally don’t go back to prison,” Hundley says. “In our experience, people who are busy with work every day and who have safe places to come home to generally don’t reoffend. They’re like everybody else—they’re tired at the end of the day and they’re ready to eat dinner and go to bed.”
For Hundley, who co-founded the Parole Project in August 2016, the issue of reentry is one that’s close to home. In 1997, he was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison at just 15 years old. While incarcerated at Angola, he completed college courses, led multiple inmate organizations and taught reentry and self-help classes.
In June 2016, Hundley became the first juvenile lifer to be paroled in Louisiana following a pair of U.S. Supreme Court decisions that prohibited the mandatory sentencing of juveniles to life without parole. He’s now dedicated his life to helping others navigate their own reentries.
“I’m formerly incarcerated and most of my staff is formerly incarcerated,” Hundley says. “We’re individuals who were given a second chance, and a second chance means more than just getting out of prison. A second chance means having the opportunity to be successful.”
While stable housing is one of the two most important factors when it comes to reducing the risk of recidivism, Hundley says stable employment is often the first step toward successful reentry. If a formerly incarcerated individual doesn’t have a stable income, finding stable housing becomes a much more daunting task.
That’s where the Parole Project’s Employment Enhancement Program comes in.
A partnership between the Parole Project, the Louisiana Department of Justice and the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, the Employment Enhancement Program is designed to connect soon-to-be-released individuals with employment opportunities in the Baton Rouge and New Orleans metros prior to their release.
Program participants meet education and vocational training requirements while incarcerated to ensure that they’re prepared to begin their careers upon reentry, and the Parole Project offers them continuous support as they reacclimate to society at large.
Formerly incarcerated individuals aren’t the only ones who stand to benefit from the Employment Enhancement Program, though. The program also serves to address labor shortages in high-demand professions—carpenters, electricians, HVAC technicians, mechanics and welders, to name a few. Job opportunities in green energy and oil and gas have also become increasingly common in recent years, according to Hundley.
“As the labor market has gotten tighter over the past few years, employers have gotten more willing to consider second chance hiring,” Hundley says. “They need good employees, and it’s gotten tougher to find good employees. We’re giving them people who are really motivated to prove themselves.”
The DOC offers its own workforce reentry programs, as well. Through the department’s online Return for Good portal, employers can post job openings, browse and message candidates, request interviews and, ultimately, hire highly trained individuals.
One Baton Rouge business that has found success hiring through the DOC’s Return for Good Program is prominent auto dealer Gerry Lane Enterprises.
Company President Eric Lane says his business has hired five formerly incarcerated individuals thus far and that he will “absolutely” hire more in the future.
“Just because somebody has been incarcerated doesn’t mean that they’ll never be any good to anybody,” he says. “These are people who made a big mistake, paid a big price for it and paid their debt to society. They deserve a second chance.”
Lane tends to place formerly incarcerated individuals in positions that don’t directly interact with the public upon their hiring. Once they’ve “proven themselves,” though, it’s not unheard of for them to transition to public-facing roles. For example, Lane’s assistant body shop manager—somebody who interfaces with the public every day—is a formerly incarcerated individual who got his start at Gerry Lane working behind the scenes.
“These are people who want to prove themselves,” Lane says. “And they’ll work way harder than the average person to prove themselves. It’s a win-win situation and it’s been really, really good for us.”
The DOC and the Parole Project aren’t the only ones looking to make it easier for formerly incarcerated individuals to reenter the workforce. In Baton Rouge, organizations like the Christian Outreach Center of Baton Rouge, the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council and the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice each offer their own programs to those rejoining society, and many more programs are available in other parts of the state.
Some headway, too, is being made at the state Capitol.
A FAIR CHANCE
In recent years, a number of measures have been passed by the Louisiana Legislature to encourage second chance hiring.
In 2016, Louisiana adopted a “ban the box” law that prohibits state and political subdivision employers from asking about an applicant’s criminal history on job applications and from conducting a background check prior to an interview.
And in 2021, the state adopted a “fair chance” law that restricts private employers’ consideration of an applicant’s criminal history in hiring decisions. Louisiana also offers a handful of financial incentives to employers hiring formerly incarcerated individuals, including a Work Opportunity Tax Credit of up to $2,400 for each new hire.
One local organization that has been vocal in advocating for laws that ease restrictions around workforce reentry is the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry. LABI President and CEO Will Green says that such legislative efforts are part of his organization’s LA23 Strategic Plan that, among other aims, prioritizes strengthening the state’s workforce—especially when it comes to in-demand trades.
“Organizations like the Parole Project are doing a great job, but we’ve got to couple that with good policy at the Legislature,” he says.
LABI found success in that regard during the 2024 regular session. Among its legislative “wins” this year were House Bills 93 and 94, introduced by state Rep. Matthew Willard, D-New Orleans, and Senate Bill 251, introduced by state Sen. Regina Barrow, D-Baton Rouge.
HB93 and HB94 provide for the issuance of birth certificates and other important documents to adult and juvenile inmates upon release in an effort to ensure that formerly incarcerated individuals are in possession of the paperwork they need to obtain a job. SB251, meanwhile, requires the DOC to offer GED and vocational training programs to inmates in an effort to address labor supply shortages.
“These are kind of simple things that some people take for granted,” Green says, “but if we can keep creating these small barriers to reoffending, it’ll go a long way toward filling need-based jobs and reducing incarceration.”
