VIA EURWEB:
Even though Michael Vick is on the slow road to finding acceptance after his release, one prison ministry leader said most paroled ex-cons have a harder time finding forgiveness, let alone a job.
Since serving 18 months in prison, former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick has been conditionally reinstated by the NFL commissioner, signed a deal with the Philadelphia Eagles, and could be making his preseason debut later this week in a pre-season game.
Although Vick still faces ridicule for his role in an extensive unlawful interstate dog fighting ring, which led his incarceration, the president and CEO of Prison Fellowship is reminding the public that Vick is in a far better position than nearly all the other estimated 700,000 prisoners who will be released this year.
“For one thing, Vick possesses a very rare and, thus, very marketable set of skills. At any given moment, only 32 men are good enough to start at quarterback in the NFL. Add Vick’s previous success and it’s not difficult to share his agent’s assessment that his signing was a matter of ‘when’ and not ‘if,’” Mark Earley told the Christian Post Reporter.
A majority of ex-prisoners does not get a second chance and often have trouble finding work after their release from prison. In some communities, 75 percent of ex-offenders remain unemployed a year after their release – and that’s in good economic times.
The current recession has made it even more difficult for ex-offenders to find work and is expected to make it even more likely for them to return to prison.
