How to get ex-cons back into the workforce
When Congress returns to work in September, they're expected to take action on the "Fair Chance Act."
The act would ban government offices and contractors from asking applicants about their criminal histories. Similar steps have been taken at the state level already.
With the massive number of job openings in America right now, that could be beneficial for many ex-cons. However, some do not have the skillset to execute the jobs.
Former NFL safety and CEO of the Brewer Group Jack Brewer is working hard to combat that issue.
"They need skills," Brewer told FOX Business' Charles Payne on "Making Money with Charles Payne." "We have a population that's been mass incarcerated by the millions ... this thing has become an epidemic."
They need skills.
Brewer said while the debate rages on as to how to rehabilitate prisoners, he says he's been in the prisons and spoken with prisoners.
"I looked these guys in the eye and I promised them that I'm going to tell the world the truth," Brewer said. "And the truth is that some of these private prisons, and I can't talk for all of them, the ones I've been in, they're taking these men that have never had the opportunity to learn and they're putting their own money toward these rehabilitation programs."
They're putting their own money toward these rehabilitation programs.
Brewer just started his own program in partnership with Fordham University where he goes into the prisons and teaches the inmates about business and basic accounting.
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Brewer hopes this education effort will lower recidivism rates.