In May 2008, when Christina Randall was released from prison after serving nearly three years for battery, robbery and escape, she had nothing but $30 and the brand-new, ill-fitting clothes on her back. She took up in a women’s shelter in South Florida, eight hours away from her friends and family, with a plan to start fresh.

First, she got a job as a line cook at Wendy’s . “I worked my butt off cooking chicken nuggets and French fries,” Ms. Randall, 35, sa id, in order to save for a car. Then she enrolled in an undergraduate program, where she studied social work while employed as a janitor. “I’ve always wanted to help people,” she said.

But after graduation, she couldn’t get hired; history always seemed to get in the way. Once, she said, she was offered a role working with children, but the organization promptly rescinded the offer after running a background check. “I went home and cried for like three days,” she said. “I felt like I’d hit a brick wall.”