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Community Report
Yavapai County Employer Survey 2013
From October 10th
, 2012 to January 29th
, 2013, the Yavapai County Employer Survey was conducted via an
online google survey that was sent to employers directly in emails, listed on the Yavapai Reentry Project facebook
page, and on the Yavapai Reentry Project website.
A total of 97 employers were surveyed. See Figure 1 to note the types of businesses that completed the survey.
The information gleaned from the survey will be used to target
employers who would like to hire reentering individuals, understand
convictions that make employers weary, and provide the proper support
for both the employer and participant. The following are results of the
survey and implications on how to help participants of the Yavapai Reentry
Project (YRP) based on the provided information.
Survey Results
The majority of the employers who
completed the survey are independently
owned businesses (see Figure 2). This is
an advantage, as many corporate and
franchise businesses have developed
models to automatically disqualify people
who apply and indicate they have a felony
record by checking the box on the
application.
However, despite many employers having the ability to make hiring
decisions without a corporate/franchise chain of command to strictly
follow, only slightly over one quarter of those surveyed have actually
hired a person with a felony record in the past (see Figure 3).
Those with felony records who had been hired had a range of felony convictions
(according to the reports of the employer). These convictions included; assault,
drug convictions, driving under the influence of either drugs or alcohol,
misconduct involving weapons, theft, robbery, trespassing, domestic violence, and
sex offense. Convictions varied widely by the type of business and the interaction
that would be needed by the felony-record employee. For example, the person
with the sex offense was hired in a retail job where they were not interacting with
the population they had an offense against. A school or educational facility, on the
other hand, is prevented from hiring anyone with a sex offense.
Q1. What type of business?
Religious organization 1
Construction 8
Employment Agency 1
Government 6
Healthcare 5
Hotel/Motel 3
Printing/Advertising 3
Insurance 2
Law Office 2
Manufacturing 3
Nonprofit 21
Pet/Animal 2
Housing/Real Estate 2
Restaurant/Food Service 9
Retail 10
Service Industry 12
School/Education 5
Truck/Delivery 2
TOTAL SURVEYED 97
Figure 1
Figure 2
Q3. Is this an independently
owned business?
Figure 3
Q4. Has this business hired a
person with a felony record?

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In regards to future hires, employers provided important information on
how YRP can work to have recently released participants find work, depending
on their conviction(s) and personal qualifications. As seen in Figure 4¸ 78% of
employers are willing to hire a person with a felony record, with most stating that it
depends on various circumstances.
The biggest areas of concern for employers were certain convictions that
could affect their business, the clientele of the business, or provide an unreliable
employee for the position. Convictions of concern was a question included on the
survey in order to compare what employers fear are the convictions of people they
could hire from YRP, and what are the actual convictions of YRP participants.
Figure 5 displays the answers provided by employers
to question 7a. of the survey, “Please list the
convictions that would prevent hiring.”
Theft/Burglary/Fraud makes up the largest concern,
which is reasonable—businesses need to make money
to be successful. This was followed by violent crimes,
possibly derived from the fear of the individual being
violent in the job. Sex related crimes were third, and
often related to the fact that the business worked with
children and could not legally hire the individual. The
fourth was murder, which again probably derives from
fear and concern for their well-being.
Comparing what employers are concerned about to what is the make-up of YRP participants provides a positive light
for YRP Participants. Below Figure 6 shows the number of enrolled YRP participants who fall into the convictions
that employers said would prevent hiring. Participants only have 18 convictions that fall into the top four areas of
concern listed above; Theft/Burglary/Fraud, Violent Crimes, Sex offense, and Murder. These convictions are
affiliated with only 14 participants1
. The majority of convictions of YRP participants falls into the Drug/DUI
related convictions, which ranked low, as the 7th
concern for employers.
1
Because participants can have multiple convictions, the number of people is less than the number of convictions.
Figure 4
Q6. Is a person with a felony
record still considered for hire?
Figure 5
Q7a. Please list the convictions
that would prevent hiring.
Figure 6
Convictions of YRP participants in
Employers area of concern.

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The remaining participants hit an array of convictions, many of which were not listed as a concern for employers.
Figure 7 breaks down all convictions held by YRP enrolled participants.
Perhaps the most positive part of the survey was the experience shared by those employers who had hired a person
with a felony record in the past.
The results from the employers who completed the survey allow YRP to begin an outreach campaign to employers
addressing their concerns, while also promoting support and full reintegration of reentering individuals. YRP can
address the needs of employers and participants in a symbiotic manner, while continuing to create a safer community
for everyone in Yavapai County.
Figure 7
All convictions of enrolled YRP participants
Of the 29 employers who had hired
someone with a criminal history in the
past, the majority of them had a positive
experience.
Figure 8
Experience recorded with hiring a person with felony record.