Occupational licensing reform can reduce barriers to employment faced by former offenders

Most people who are convicted of a crime in the United States will remain in or eventually return to their communities. Research suggests that employment is a key factor in reducing the risk that an individual will engage in new criminal activity, be rearrested, and return to incarceration. Lawmakers should consider occupational licensing reform to be helpful “low-hanging fruit” to reduce government-imposed barriers to employment for former offenders.