Fidelity from the Frat

It may be prudent for employers to avoid hiring ex-convicts, but it is hard on the ex-cons. Even a one-time loser who wants to go straight can find him self wandering from employment office to employment office, gradually realizing that the only trade he is eligible to follow is crime. But now, in Washington, B.C., a group of former convicts is offering a solution: it runs an employ ment agency that places ex-cons only.

Known as Bonabond, the 14-month-old agency was formed primarily to aid former offenders from whom pro spective employers demanded a fidelity bond as a condition of employment.

Such a bond can cost a man a stiff $400-$500 a year -- if he can get it. Op erating with an $85,000 grant from the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Bonabond provides such bonds cheaply and is a potent force in narrow ing the gulf between employers and men with prison records. Bonabond lists 355 vouched-for employables in its files, and in the past two months has placed people in 98 jobs, ranging from porter to police-community relations aide for the Urban League.

Sing Sing Alumni. Credit for creating the organization goes to A. L. Jagoe, a Washington insurance executive and longtime volunteer in social work. He explains that the plan was blueprinted by borrowing ideas: "A little from the Boy Scouts, a little from Alcoholics Anonymous, and a little from fraternity life." Jagoe got solid advice from several ex-cons during Bonabond's drawing-board stage; once launched, the organization was turned over to them.

Currently, the director is Hiawatha Burris, 34, who served a six-month stretch for conspiracy to commit armed robbery; his assistants include alumni of such institutions as Sing Sing, Dannemora State Hospital and the U.S.

Public Health Service Hospital for drug addicts at Lexington, Ky. Hiring ex-cons, Burris feels, is the best way to spot losers among bond applicants. He says that "there's very little crime that one of the staff hasn't had experience in.

We know we can distinguish between the person who comes in playing the truth game and the one really interested in going straight."

Once an applicant is approved for membership, he pays a $10 annual fee.

In return, Bonabond will bond him up to $2,500, and it will also put up bail bond for him should he get in trouble.

Other active programs of a more preventive nature include a youth project, with picnics and social meetings, and a kind of Addicts Anonymous, run by ex-Pusher and Addict "Sonny" Long, which sponsors meetings twice a week for self-help discussion.

So far, Bonabond's record is perfect, even though its clients aren't. Of 375 members, 20 have had run-ins with the law, but none for crimes against an employer. Not a single claim has been filed against any bond. In fact, the mere promise of Bonabond approval has led several Washington employers to waive bonding altogether.

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