Center for Employment Opportunities Launches 'More Than A Background' Campaign to Raise Awareness of the Barriers People with Criminal Records Face in Obtaining Employment as a Result of Overreliance on Background Checks

#MoreThanABackground Launch Coincides with Start of 'Second Chance Month'

NEW YORK, April 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO), the nation's largest reentry organization, launched 'More Than a Background' (#MoreThanABackground), a public awareness campaign to limit the use of criminal background checks in the hiring process.

The campaign will use compelling imagery and personal storytelling of impacted people, along with interactive digital assets, to create greater public awareness of the challenges people with criminal records face when trying to obtain employment, regardless of their qualifications. The goal of the campaign is to shift the narrative to make people understand the inequities caused by the overreliance on background checks in the hiring process; encourage and educate employers on better, more equitable hiring practices; and seed the ground for future reforms.

"Everyone, regardless of their past, is More Than a Background," said Sam Schaefer, Executive Director of the Center for Employment Opportunities. "Every individual has amazing attributes and identities that not only make them significant and unique but also make them exemplary workers. They are skilled, hardworking, they are mothers, advocates and so much more. Yet, sadly, because of the widespread overreliance on background checks in the employment process, they are diminished to checking a box that blocks them from accessing opportunities that they are more than qualified for."

As a national organization, CEO has seen firsthand the disparities in how workers with criminal backgrounds are treated in the hiring process. States and cities are increasingly addressing this problem by passing fair chance laws that protect justice-impacted people, but more remains to be done. 

"It didn't matter that I had 22 years of restaurant management skills. When I returned from prison in 2022, I couldn't even get a call back… a foot in the door. I wasn't given the opportunity to be evaluated fairly based on my qualifications," said Marvin, a former CEO participant and Advocacy Leadership Committee member. "Today, I'm proud to say, I've taken this experience to become a fair-chance employer myself, and am providing opportunities to others that are returning from prison and facing the same obstacles I did."

More information and personal stories can be found at MoreThanABackground.org.

High-resolution creative assets from the campaign can be provided upon request.

Contact:
Matt Sutton, Director of Communications
[email protected] | (646) 951-4811

SOURCE Center for Employment Opportunities