The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

And that is simply not true.

Take my client Sarah who, when she was 15, played a practical joke on a two-timing boyfriend by sneaking into his house. She ended up with a juvenile record for breaking and entering, and now, 14 years later, can't get work in a nursing home.

Then there's Lisa, who's been struggling to get off welfare by becoming a nurse's aide, but can't because of a misdemeanor from when she was 17. Her crime? Getting in a fight with a parent who had been physically abusing her for years.

Or there's Carrie, a single mother of four who can't find work in a nursing home despite glowing recommendations and a decade of experience. Ten years ago when she was receiving welfare she was a couple of days late reporting a part-time job, and ended up with a conviction for welfare fraud.

Thirty percent of adult Americans have criminal records for a substantial portion of their lives. Some of them shouldn't be working in nursing homes. But many of them have minor records or have turned their lives around.

The key is figuring out who's dangerous and who's not. We can't afford to exclude excellent caregivers just because they have old or petty convictions, especially when there aren't enough workers to fill available nurse's aide jobs.

Moreover, because health care is one of the few sectors of the economy where it is possible for low-skill workers to find jobs, if we exclude everyone with a record, we'll end up paying welfare to people who can and want to work.

The answer is to set up a process that lets nurse's aides who would otherwise be excluded because of their records prove they'd make good employees. Doctors and nurses already get an appeal process if they are denied the right to work because of a criminal conviction. Nurse's aides should, too.

States like Florida and Illinois, which already have processes to allow nurse's aides to petition for an exemption, have found that only a tiny fraction of the exemptions granted ever need to be revoked. These examples show that it is possible to protect nursing home residents without abandoning our commitment to moving welfare recipients, including those with criminal records, into the work force.

If we really want to make sure that our grandparents get the best possible care, we shouldn't automatically deprive them of caregivers like Sarah, Lisa and Carrie. Instead, we should give Sarah, Lisa and Carrie the chance to show that, despite the mistakes they've made in the past, they'd be the excellent caregivers that Michigan seniors deserve.

Miriam Aukerman of Grand Rapids is a Soros justice fellow with Western Michigan Legal Services.
Copyright 2005 Lansing State Journal