Tennessee Voices, Episode 324: Sean Hosman, founder, Persevere
A major hurdle for formerly incarcerated people is finding a job that will allow them to care for themselves and their families and avoid returning to the prison system.
Barriers, from social impressions to policies keep people with prison records from attaining certain positions, can get in the way of re-entering society and becoming productive citizens.
Sean Hosman, who was once incarcerated related to addiction, had advantages that many other inmates did not and when he re-entered society, he made it his mission to help citizens gain skills that could get good jobs out of prison.
He founded the Memphis-based nonprofit Persevere in 2012 to teach inmates how to become software developers.
On this episode of the Tennessee Voices video podcast, he shared his journey and how he validated his hypothesis regarding how to better the lives of ex-inmates and their families.
Hosman said while the recidivism rate for ex-inmates can vary between 45% and 70%, Persevere's rate of reoffense is only 1.8%.
"Think of it as an opportunity for rehabilitation," he said. "If you do it right, you're going to create less victims."
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About Tennessee Voices
The Tennessee Voices videocast is a 20-minute program, which started in March 2020 and invites leaders, thinkers and innovators who have written guest columns for a USA TODAY Network Tennessee publication to share their insights and wisdom with me and our viewers.
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David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network Tennessee and an editorial board member of The Tennessean. Tweet to him at @davidplazas.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Voices: Sean Hosman of Persevere on training ex-inmates
