Good evening:
My brother in law has 3 drug-related felonies on his record - all in
the state of Texas. He has recently gotten out of jail [reduced
sentencing of only 2 years - release December 2004] and is looking for
employment in HOUSTON.

I had read somewhere online: that in Texas, if you fill out a
healthcare provider waiver form, a person with a felony conviction
could have a waiver filed through the State so that the felon could
work at a hospital or other healthcare facility. The only caveat is
that the waiver would exclude the person fromworking in certain
fields/positions [i.e. a drug-related conviction means no pharmacy or
laboratory access]. My brother in law has several well-known hospitals
and related experience on his resume. I believe his experience is as
an equipment technician or some other vocational responsibility.

1 - Is it possible to file for such a waiver in Texas and if so, where
can he find the waiver and through whom can he file?
2 - If the waiver is not available, is there any other way for a felon
to work in a hospital in Texas?
3 - If the healthcare industry is not an option, are there any
specific commercial staffing agencies in Houston that help/specialize
in finding employment for persons with barriers to employment?
4 - Are there any known larger companies that hire ex-felons?

I have already done numerous searches on message boards [prison talk,
houstonjobsearch, america's job bank] and on state sponsored resources
such as One Stop, The Texas Wordforce Commission, The Texas Department
of Health, etc. All of which provide generic job search banks which
wuld not be practical or applicable for someone in this situation.

Thank you very much for your time and efforts!