This Nonprofit Helps Inmates Get Jobs Via Cheap Tattoo Removal

Remember that boy who used his allowance money to buy books for inmates?

The nonprofit organization Jails to Jobs, from the San Francisco Bay Area, wants to help out too — by giving inmates the opportunity to have cheap or even free tattoo removal so that they may find jobs easier.

This sounds ridiculous, but then again employers might be ridiculous too. For example, a man from New Hampshire got fired for attending the birth of his son.

According to a 2016 study by the Prison Policy Initiative, over 2.3 million people are currently locked up across the U.S.

And apparently, when released, inmates with tattoos — whether they are gang-related or just anti-social — have great trouble finding a job. And when they can’t find a job, ex-convicts might return to the slammer.

“We see that as many as four out of five previously incarcerated individuals who successfully find a job do not return to prison,” said Mark Drevno, founder and executive director of the public charity,to Prize Size. “A better, more sustainable approach is to help individuals remove visible anti-social or gang-related tattoos, get jobs and turn their lives around.”

So Jails for Jobs, an organization which “gives previously incarcerated and soon-to–be-released men and women the tools they need to find employment,” launched a training program to teach other organizations, correctional facilities, medical professionals, tattoo artists and government officials how to create low-cost tattoo removal programs.

They even published Tattoo Removal: Establishing a Free or Low-Cost Community-Based Program: A How-to Guide.

Reddit user RPG-Aluren, who volunteers at Oxnard Tattoo Removal Clinic in Southern California, shed some light on the topic. Reportedly, this particular operation is controlled entirely by volunteers — including doctors — and funded by city programs. The clinic, which has been running for over a decade, offers unlimited tattoo removal in exchange for 40 hours of community service.

We understand tattoo removal is typically expensive (and painful) so that sounds like a fantastic initiative for a former inmate to regain their life.

Your Daily Dish reached out to Jails to Jobs for a comment.