It seems that every other week, some business leader or other is deploring the state of the work force in Rhode Island. While jobs go wanting, employers complain that they are getting applicants with poor language skills and inadequate education.
And yet a large chunk of the state’s worker pool is seldom given a chance at gainful employment. About 5 percent of the state’s non-agricultural work force is made up of individuals on probation or parole. Most are looking to start their lives anew.
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Social service agencies such as the Rhode Island Family Life Center do their best to train and place these men (they are primarily men) and women. But business owners need to do their part.
Of course, employers have to be selective and choose a worker with the skills to do the job. But helping this group of people is an investment in the entire state. Last year the state paid $41,409 for each inmate it housed.
But if they are out of prison and not earning
