The “ban the box” movement, which aims to eliminate the criminal history box on initial job applications, has spread to Syracuse, and the policy will become effective locally on March 22.

The Syracuse Common Council voted 8-1 on Dec. 8, 2014 that the city and all contractors working with the city must remove the criminal record box from their job applications. This will not include jobs in the private sector. After no response from Mayor Stephanie Miner, the law will automatically become effective on Sunday.

“The ban opens up more employment opportunities because people with criminal records don’t get screened out. People get judged by their ability, not their past,” said Alan Rosenthal, a consultant from the Center for Community Alternatives, an organization that spearheaded the policy reform in Syracuse.

Employers can still complete background checks or ask about criminal histories, but only after extending a tentative job offer. The ban does not necessarily apply to all city jobs. In Rochester, where the ban was recently passed, fire and police department jobs are excluded from the ban. Rosenthal said the exact structure of the ban in Syracuse is still being discussed.

Common Councilor Jean Kessner, who worked to get the ban approved in the past two years, said she hopes the new policy will not only improve the quality of life for ex-offenders, but also benefit the local economy. Kessner said she hopes the ban will lower the number of families in poverty by allowing parents with criminal histories to rebuild their lives with better access to employment opportunities.

“The whole economy really depends on people getting employment so they can take care of their families and have a better standard of living,” Kessner said.

Many of the ban’s supporters share a similar vision that it will improve the livelihood of ex-offenders. “What ‘ban the box’ does is give people a second chance,” Kessner said.

CenterState Corporation for Economic Opportunity, an organization that claims to represent many of Syracuse’s businesses, was in opposition to the ban. Elle Hanna, director of communications and media relations for CenterState, said that the organization was moving forward with local partners to gauge the effects the ban would create.

Kessner said CenterState believes the ban forces employers to hire ex-offenders and impedes on businesses’ autonomy.

However, Rosenthal said the ban leaves the decision whether to hire an ex-offender or not in employers’ control. “It simply moves the disclosure of background information to the back of the application process,” Rosenthal said.

In the last several years, four other New York cities passed a variation of the ban, including Buffalo and New York City. Some cities adopt more conservative policies while others ban the box in almost all sectors, such as Rochester, which banned the box in both the public and private sector last year.

Support from local businesses in the city affects the structure of the ban. Rochester was able to extensively eliminate the box because it had the support of the University of Rochester, a major source of employment in the city.

Syracuse University did not promote the disposal of the box. This was one reason for the city’s limited ban, as SU creates many job opportunities in Syracuse, said Patricia Warth, director of justice strategies at the Center for Community Alternatives.

“I would love to see Syracuse University as an employer say, ‘This is important.’ SU is uniquely positioned to be a leader as an employer,” Warth said.

Published on March 18, 2015 at 12:01 am

Contact Heather: hgrounds@syr.edu