A host of government and community leaders pressed Allegheny County employers Monday to consider job applicants with criminal backgrounds, joining a national push led by the White House.

“There are people who want to change their lives. There are people who have served their time. And then they're denied opportunity,” said Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, who appeared at a Downtown press conference alongside County Executive Rich Fitzgerald.

The men signed the White House Fair Business Pledge, which encourages employers to consider an applicant's criminal history “in proper context” and not “unnecessarily place jobs out of reach for those with criminal records.”

Esther Bush, president at the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh, said former inmates without jobs simply can't support themselves.

“Anybody who has been incarcerated, honestly, needs an opportunity,” Ms. Bush said.

The local unemployment rate among formerly incarcerated people is 53 percent, said Laura Ellsworth, vice chairwoman at the Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board. She said they "should be able to get paid for an honest day's work, just like all the rest of us.”

A lack of opportunity also contributes to violence, said Tim Stevens, convener of the Corporate Equity and Inclusion Roundtable.

“We cannot just shake our heads when we see the violence and say, ‘Oh, my,’” said Mr. Stevens, who called for a sustained effort to strengthen employment rates.

“People coming out of jails and penitentiaries, at this point, have no hope,” he said.

Adam Smeltz: 412-263-2625, asmeltz@post-gazette.com, @asmeltz.

First Published: October 25, 2016, 4:00 a.m.