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For too long, reentry policy has focused on preparing people for work without confronting the systems that prevent them from being hired in the first place. We ask people returning from incarceration to be job-ready, accountable, and motivated — yet we allow outdated hiring practices and administrative barriers to lock them out of opportunity before they ever reach an interview.
That contradiction is why we launched More Than a Background.
This campaign reflects a simple truth: if we want safer communities, a stronger workforce, and real economic mobility, we must remove the barriers that have nothing to do with a person’s ability to do the job.
The Problem Isn’t Talent — It’s Policy
Every year, hundreds of thousands of people return home from incarceration ready to work. Many have completed training, gained experience, and are actively seeking employment. Yet they encounter the same obstacles again and again:
- Automatic disqualification because of a past conviction
- Background checks used as blunt screening tools rather than risk-informed assessments
- Inability to secure a job simply because they lack a state-issued ID or birth certificate
These barriers are not accidental. They are the result of policies and systems that prioritize exclusion over evaluation — and paperwork over potential.
At CEO, we see this every day. People aren’t being turned away because they can’t do the work. They’re being turned away because systems were never designed to let them in.
Fair Chance Hiring Is a Workforce Strategy
Fair chance hiring is often framed as a moral argument. But at its core, it is a workforce strategy.
When employers delay consideration of criminal history and use individualized assessments, they expand their talent pool, reduce turnover, and hire people who are motivated to succeed. Our experience partnering with employers across the country shows that justice-impacted workers are reliable, committed, and eager to build careers.
Fair chance hiring doesn’t eliminate standards — it ensures standards are relevant. It asks one fundamental question: Can this person do the job?
When the answer is yes, a past conviction should not be a permanent barrier to employment.
Identification: The Barrier No One Talks About
Even the most motivated jobseeker cannot work without identification. Yet too many people leave incarceration without the documents required to verify employment, open a bank account, enroll in benefits, or secure housing.
Without ID, there is no I-9. Without an I-9, there is no job.
The result is predictable: delays, instability, and unnecessary setbacks during the most fragile period of reentry. This isn’t about personal responsibility — it’s about systems that make basic compliance unnecessarily difficult.
Through More Than a Background, we are pushing states to treat access to identification as what it truly is: reentry infrastructure.
More Than a Background: From Narrative to Policy
More Than a Background began as a public awareness effort to challenge the overuse of background checks. Today, it has evolved into a multi-state, policy-driven campaign advancing concrete legislative reforms.
Across states, we are working with partners and justice-impacted leaders to:
- Advance fair chance hiring laws that prevent blanket exclusions
- Remove administrative barriers to obtaining vital identification documents
- Ensure policy changes are implemented in practice — not just passed on paper
This work is guided by lived experience. The people most impacted by these barriers are shaping the solutions — bringing real-world insight to policymaking tables.
Barrier Removal Is Public Safety Policy
Employment is one of the strongest predictors of successful reentry. When people can work, families stabilize, reliance on emergency systems declines, and communities are safer.
Barrier removal is not about being lenient. It is about being effective.
If we invest in training, employment programs, and workforce development — but allow preventable barriers to block access — we undermine our own goals. Removing those barriers is how we ensure public dollars deliver public value.
Opportunity 2030: Building Systems That Work
At CEO, Opportunity 2030 is our blueprint for a reentry system that works at scale. That means:
- Paid work and training that lead to quality jobs
- Early stabilization through cash and supports
- And critically, the removal of barriers that delay or deny access to opportunity
More Than a Background is a core part of that vision. It is how we ensure preparation meets access — and effort is met with opportunity.
The Bottom Line
People returning from incarceration are more than a background check. They are workers, parents, neighbors, and contributors to our economy.
If we want a future defined by economic mobility and shared prosperity, we must stop asking people to overcome barriers we have the power to remove.
More Than a Background is about building fair chance systems that recognize potential, reward work, and allow people to move forward — not remain defined by their past.
