GEOFF BENNETT: Being employed has proven to reduce the chances that people who have recently left prison will reoffend.

But, for many jobs, that require a state license or certificate can be difficult or even impossible to obtain.

Special correspondent Cat Wise reports from Oregon as part of our ongoing series Searching for Justice.

CAT WISE: At the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility south of Portland, about a dozen women are attending the final class of Intro to Native American Studies.

WOMAN: You have been fantastic, your critical thinking skills, your questions.

CAT WISE: The class is part of a bachelor's degree program in liberal studies offered by Portland State University to incarcerated women here.

WOMAN: The trauma of our ancestors run through the generations of our families.

CAT WISE: Kyeesha Alvarez, who is 28, is serving more than five years for assault.

KYEESHA ALVAREZ, Portland State University Higher Education in Prison Program: I wanted to be a nurse and eventually continue studying to be a doctor.

But I don't know what my options are now.

CAT WISE: And why is that?

What sort of hurdles are you anticipating?

KYEESHA ALVAREZ: Well, I a felon now.

CAT WISE: Alvarez knows that, if she completes a bachelor's degree, her criminal record may still affect her ability to get jobs that require background checks or an employment requirement that can be as another big hurdle, an occupational license.

KYEESHA ALVAREZ: It is very frustrating.

And I think a lot of us feel the same way.

And there's only a handful of things that we can do when we get out.

And we want to do more.

I want to do more.

CAT WISE: About a quarter of jobs in the U.S. require some sort of professional license or certification, jobs like teachers, nurses, and electricians.

Some of those licenses, however, are off-limits to those with certain criminal convictions.

More than 40 states have enacted reforms to reduce licensing barriers.

But, here in Oregon, many hurdles remain.

DEB ARTHUR, Portland State University: We say that we give people a certain sentence.

They complete their time.

But, really, that sentence continues.

CAT WISE: Deb Arthur is a professor and the director of the Higher Education in Prison Program at Portland State University.

DEB ARTHUR: Four percent of people who are formerly incarcerated have a college degree, 4 percent.

There's so much talent and there's so many people that are would be great contributors if we provided that support system for that.

CAT WISE: Arthur first introduced classes at Coffee Creek in 2019 and now oversees about 100 students.

Are the students aware that some jobs may be off-limits to them?

DEB ARTHUR: Yes, and there's a lot of concern about that.

There's lots of anger and there's also resignation, because, honestly, these are people who, to a large extent, feel written off by society anyway.

KIESHA JOHNSON, Portland State University Project Rebound: I love science.

Like, I used to be a science tutor inside.

CAT WISE: Kiesha Johnson knows what it's like to feel written off.

KIESHA JOHNSON: Although I'm free, like, I am still incarcerated, because I still have to deal with no's.

And with jobs, I can forget about even trying to apply for them.

CAT WISE: Johnson served nearly 20 years for being present during a robbery-turned-murder.

In 2021, her life sentence was commuted by then-Oregon Governor Kate Brown.

After being released, she went to Texas to be closer to family and got a job as a security guard.

KIESHA JOHNSON: I was completely honest.

I have been incarcerated for this amount of time with these charges.

And he said, come on in.

Can you pass a drug test?

Yes.

And I got the job.

CAT WISE: But eight months later, Johnson says she abruptly lost her position.

A state licensing department said her conviction meant she couldn't work as an unarmed guard.

KIESHA JOHNSON: Most of the jobs that I feel I qualify for does require a license.

And I don't put myself through the pain or the excitement that I'm going to do something that I really want to do.

CAT WISE: Johnson came back to Oregon and enrolled full time at Portland State, continuing the degree she started when she was incarcerated at Coffee Creek.

She's also working for AmeriCorps, helping run Project Rebound, a formal support system for students enrolling in school after prison.

KIESHA JOHNSON: If I didn't have this program, I really don't know where I would be.

I think that's what the problem is, not being able to move forward after you serve your time.

You serve your time, then it should be over.

But it's never over.

CAT WISE: There has been some movement to change rules around licensing in Oregon.

Earlier this year, a bill was introduced that would prevent a licensing entity from denying a license solely because an applicant had a criminal record, unless the crime was specifically related to the occupation.

That bill failed to pass, which means formerly incarcerated Oregonians like Jose Salcedo still face barriers.

Despite being out of prison for almost a decade and turning his life around, the 31-year old's youth record and adult robbery conviction from when he was a teenager are big obstacles for his dream job, a parole officer.

In Oregon, a felony conviction leads to a mandatory deniable of most licenses in the field of public safety.

JOSE SALCEDO, Youth Advocate: I have been denied three different jobs already.

One of them is to work in a youth correctional facility, same facility that I grew up in.

And I have made it past the application and the interview process, and everything was great.

But the minute I filed for that background, I was denied.

CAT WISE: Today, Salcedo is a youth mentor for kids who have been impacted by gun violence and the criminal justice system.

His approach is guided by his own experience.

JOSE SALCEDO: The youth that I work with right now are the youth that I used to be when I was little.

My motto is, be that person I needed when I was younger, because I never had nobody else tell me that I could do better.

CAT WISE: While he enjoys his work, and feels he is making an impact, Salcedo says he's frustrated that his criminal record is preventing him from helping his community as a parole officer.

Do you feel those license requirements are fair?

JOSE SALCEDO: I don't think they're fair at all.

I'm doing as much as I could to give back to the community.

So, at one point, when is the community going to try to open up and give me some mercy?

CAT WISE: In Oregon, there is a process to expunge or clear many felonies after a period ranging from five to seven years and more serious felonies through a court process.

But district attorneys can object, something Jose Salcedo has already experienced.

JOSE SALCEDO: I have been through court for the past year-and-a-half to expunge my juvenile record.

And each time, it's always been the DA that objects and has specific requirements and objections.

And I don't think that battle is over, because I then have to face the adult courts, which is harder.

But some in Oregon have concerns about changing requirements.

How do you respond to safety concerns when people say, oh, these regulations and licensing requirements are in place because we're concerned about safety, public safety?

DEB ARTHUR: I'm a mom.

I have two children.

I'm concerned about safety.

I don't want someone with a sex offense conviction in my kids' classroom.

There are certain limitations that make sense.

But to have a blanket exclusion from all sorts of job opportunities and career opportunities just absolutely doesn't make sense.

CAT WISE: Coffee Creek and other prisons around Oregon do offer job training in fields that are more open to people with criminal records, like production sewing, electrical work, and cosmetology.

But Kiesha Johnson has different career aspirations.

She wants to start her own organization helping current and formerly incarcerated people.

KIESHA JOHNSON: I don't want to answer to anyone else that's going to tell me no.

So I want to be my own boss.

I'm going to get my degree.

I'm going to get my nonprofit, and with determination and perseverance, I'm going to get there.

CAT WISE: Jose Salcedo is also focused on the future.

This fall, he begins an associate's degree in criminal justice, a step in his ultimate goal of becoming a parole officer.

JOSE SALCEDO: Where there's a will, there's a way.

All my life, I have spent years fighting.

I spent years fighting, accomplishing, losing, winning, gaining.

And it's not going to stop.

CAT WISE: With about 4,500 people released from prisons in Oregon last year, and a statewide labor shortage, the need for new employment pathways is as pressing as ever.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Cat Wise in Portland, Oregon.