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Obama to Announce Steps to Ease Pathway From Prison to Jobs and Regular Life

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President Barack Obama will announce initiatives on Monday to ease the pathway from prison to regular life for former inmates as part of his broader drive to overhaul the criminal justice system.

Limited by his office, Obama’s proposals are narrow in scope: they include directing the federal Office of Personnel Management to delay inquiries into criminal history until later in the hiring process, and announcing grants to provide job training for those with criminal records.

“We can help those who have served their time and earned a second chance get the support they need to become productive members of society,” Mr. Obama said in his weekly radio and online address on Saturday.

Obama will visit a residential drug-treatment center in Newark on Monday and then convene a round-table discussion with Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey and Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka, the New York Times reports.

Read more: Hillary Clinton Doesn’t Want Federal Job Applicants to Be Asked About Criminal History

Former secretary of state and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton announced a similar proposal on Friday for limiting inquiries into criminal history until applicants have a chance to prove themselves.

[The New York Times]

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