Word: bonabond
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...runs "freedom houses" to help re-leasees. Of 5,000 Seventh Step graduates so far, only 10% have returned to prison. An ex-New York prisoner named Hiawatha Burris has carved a new career persuading reluctant employers to hire ex-cons. With federal funds, Burris started Washington's Bonabond, a convict-run agency that has bonded and guided 441 men in new jobs. Bonabond has never had to pay off. Only 7% of its charges have been rearrested, none for crimes against their employers. Some employers now skip the bond and just take Bonabond's word...
Such a bond can cost a man a stiff $400-$500 a year - if he can get it. Op erating with an $85,000 grant from the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Bonabond provides such bonds cheaply and is a potent force in narrow ing the gulf between employers and men with prison records. Bonabond lists 355 vouched-for employables in its files, and in the past two months has placed people in 98 jobs, ranging from porter to police-community relations aide for the Urban League...
...Jagoe, a Washington insurance executive and longtime volunteer in social work. He explains that the plan was blueprinted by borrowing ideas: "A little from the Boy Scouts, a little from Alcoholics Anonymous, and a little from fraternity life." Jagoe got solid advice from several ex-cons during Bonabond's drawing-board stage; once launched, the organization was turned over to them...
...return, Bonabond will bond him up to $2,500, and it will also put up bail bond for him should he get in trouble...
...Bonabond's record is perfect, even though its clients aren't. Of 375 members, 20 have had run-ins with the law, but none for crimes against an employer. Not a single claim has been filed against any bond. In fact, the mere promise of Bonabond approval has led several Washington employers to waive bonding altogether...