Barbara L. McQuade said it's her office's job to reduce and prevent crime.
McQuade said one way of preventing crime is giving former prisoners a job.
"We spend, as taxpayers, $34,000 a year to incarcerate one individual. I'd rather see us invest in people and helping keeping them productive and out of crime and one way we can do that is by giving them a job," said McQuade, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan.
McQuade's office is working with Detroit Employment Solutions, the City of Detroit, Michigan Department of Corrections, U.S. Probation, U.S. Bureau of Prisons and CTC West Residential Reentry Centers for the 2015 Reentry Job and Resource Fair.
The job fair will be Oct. 27 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the Northwest Activity Center in Detroit. The center is located at 18100 Meyers Road.
McQuade said they have invited 50 employers to attend but would like to see more participate.
Sakthi Automotive Group USA, Inc. is one of the employers that see the benefits of hiring felons who are returning after serving their time. The company has hired about 25 returning residents since the new year.
"I think the right thing to do. It's the trend that's going on today. It's giving people an opportunity to have employment," said Michael Hartt, executive director of human resources at Sakthi.
"It's the philosophy of Sakthi Automotive. They're a company that actually forgives people," Hartt said. "It's a corporation that values employees and we're part of the Detroit community. We want to give individuals an opportunity."
Hartt said the employees they've hired so far are appreciative of the opportunity and work hard because they feel they have something to prove to their families, their employer and the community.
"We find that people who have returned from prison are really eager to prove themselves, really eager to have that shot and very grateful for the opportunity for a job. Employers who have hired returning citizens and said they make some of their best employees because they know they're not going to get a second and a third chance. This might be it for them and so they are very determined to prove themselves," McQuade said.
McQuade said there are incentives for employers who hire people returning from prison, including tax incentives and bonding programs to protect employers from liability when they hire people who are returning from prison.
She wants employers to keep an open mind.
"Certainly not every felon is a good fit for every job, but what we ask is that employers just keep an open mind not to uniformly reject everyone just because they have a felony conviction, but to consider whether in light of all the other talents that person brings that they might be a good fit for a particular job," McQuade said.
Employers who want to participate can call 313-226-9658.
Job-seekers can reach Stacey Harris at Stacey.harris@usdoj.gov