References may be key to helping ex-offenders find a job

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job referencesWhen you’re in reentry and looking for a job, you’ll need all the help you can get. And that means finding people who can speak about your talents, skills and character to a potential employer.

Along with your resume or JIST card and turnaround packet, don’t forget a list of references.

It’s no longer appropriate to just include “references available upon request” at the bottom of your resume. Instead you should compile a professional looking list of several people who are happy to sing your praises. Pick people who have known you for at least three months, but the longer the better.

These references can be a boss you worked for, a supervisor at a volunteer gig (all the more reason to volunteer) or, if you haven’t had a job for a while, you can use a personal reference that knows you well. For a personal reference, you might choose a teacher, coach, mentor, spiritual leader, counselor or even the job developer you’re working with.

Before you include them on your list, however, check to see if it’s OK and ask them the best way for potential employers to contact them. Make sure you get all the relevant info: the person’s name and title, name of the company or organization and its address. Also ask for the reference’s work phone number (or mobile phone if it’s a personal reference) and an email address.

Include a sentence or two on how the reference knows you and maybe some specific information they might be able to share about you.

Find a job reference template online

There are many templates online, but we particularly like the one on the Damn Good Resume Guide website. Another good example can be found on the Career Nook website.

Make sure your references have your latest resume or JIST card, so they’ll be up to date on your experience. Also contact them when you go on a job interview, preferably before, in case the hiring manager calls them soon after the interview is over. Let your references know what type of job you’re applying for and where, just as a heads up in case they do get a call.

Have your reference call the hiring manager

Another effective, usually overlooked, tactic is to have your reference call the hiring manager, preferably before the interview. This can demonstrate initiative on your part and a sincere interest in being offered a job. Your reference could say something like, “I understand that (your name) is coming in for an interview tomorrow (or whenever), and I’d like to highly recommend him. He worked for me on a bathroom remodel, and he’s an excellent carpenter, hard worker and reliable. I highly recommend him.”

Of course what the reference says would be tailored to you and the job you’re applying for, but this can be very effective.

Finding a good reference or two who can vouch for your abilities might just be the extra thing that will inspire someone to hire you.

 

Knife Skills film highlights previously incarcerated employees at Edwins restaurant in Cleveland

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Knife Skills

Employees at Edwins in Cleveland, Ohio, are profiled in Thomas Lennon’s new film, Knife Skills.

Restaurants are among the biggest employers of people in reentry. But what’s it really like for those leaving jail or prison to work in one of them? How do formerly incarcerated workers adjust to their new lives and responsibilities?

Academy Award winning filmmaker Thomas Lennon takes us into their world in his new film, Knife Skills, an inside look at the creation and opening of Edwins, an upscale French restaurant in Cleveland. Its name stands for “education wins,” and its staff is made up almost entirely of previously incarcerated individuals. They are trained at the Edwins Leadership & Training Institute, which has graduated about 180 students in its three-plus years of existence.

But back to the beginning where the 40-minute documentary opens with the training of the original restaurant staff members. Lennon shows the intense determination of these workers as they learn how to cook and serve the 25 dishes on the menu in a few weeks. There was so much to absorb, since some of them had absolutely no cooking or serving experience at all. But Gilbert, the French head chef, was up to the challenge. Among other practical knowledge, the students needed to become well versed in French culinary terms and the world of wine.

During 45 days spent filming in Cleveland over a three-and-a-half-year period, Lennon was able to get to know a few of the personalities who make Edwins the special place that it is. And he introduces them to the viewers. There’s Dorian, who received 11 years for drug trafficking; Mike, nine years for heroin and aggravated robbery; and Alan, four years for drug trafficking and robbery, among others profiled.

When he decided to do the film, Lennon had no experience with people who had been imprisoned. The idea for the film was totally serendipitous. He was having dinner with a friend who’s a chef. Another guest announced that he was going to establish a restaurant in Cleveland that would be the best French restaurant in the U.S. And it would be staffed entirely by previously incarcerated individuals. Lennon thought it would make a good subject for a documentary and decided to take it on.

Not an easy film to make

It wasn’t an easy film to make, however. Brandon Chrostowski, Edwins founder, president and CEO, had turned down a number of producers who wanted to do reality TV programs. “He made an exception with me but was very cautious and ferociously protective of the people in his training program,” Lennon says.

Another reason why it was difficult to make is that it’s, as Lennon calls it, an ensemble piece. “There’s no one person who’s the central story of the film. It jumps from one person to the next,” he says. “I had to develop each of these characters and at the same time develop the story as a whole. I felt very passionately that the film should not be very long. The goal was to make it as short as I possibly could and still convey the message. Making it as short as possible and telling everyone’s story took a long time.”

He also had challenges raising funding but eventually was awarded a Soros Justice Fellowship from the Open Society Foundations.

From Lennon’s point of view, the effort was worth it. He says he gained insight into a subject he was totally unfamiliar with.

“I wasn’t well read at all in the field. I just went in and captured what went on in front of the camera,” Lennon says, At first, he thought that the second chance (in the form of a job) that Edwins was offering was all the employees needed. Lennon discovered that he was wrong, however, when one after the other ran into real difficulties.

“This is a very vulnerable population with any number of risk factors, like PTSD or addiction. It’s a population that needs our respect and support. The film is about the human face of reentry. I wanted other people to meet these folks and care,” he says.

During the time he got to know the employees, Lennon was impressed by their resolve to step up and deal with the challenges they faced.

“Everybody had something that they were trying to prove, and the stakes are enormous,” he says. “In many cases I felt that there was some flaw they were trying to fix, and they didn’t want that flaw to come back. They wanted to repair something within themselves. I felt extremely privileged to be there and be inside those experiences.”

And he made friends with many of the people he filmed.

Film festival appearances

Knife Skills has been shown at a variety of film festivals, including the 2017 Flickers Rhode Island International Film Festival and Ohio’s Chagrin Documentary Film Festival. Upcoming appearances are scheduled at film festivals in Hot Springs, Ark., Woodstock, N.Y., Wilmington, N.C., and Napa Valley, Calif.

At the Chagrin Documentary Film Festival, Knife Skills was the opening film, which Lennon says is very unusual for a short documentary.

“We’d scheduled two screenings of Knife Skills. There was so much enthusiasm, we added a third, then a fourth screening. In the end, we held six screenings of the film!  In all my years running this festival, I’ve never seen that before,” says Mary Ann Quinn Ponce, director of the Chagrin Documentary Film Festival

After the film festival circuit, Lennon hopes the film will appear on Netflix, PBS or other channels. He would also like Knife Skills to be shown to people who are about to be released or were recently released from prison or jail. Any organizations that would be interested in doing so can contact him at knifeskillsthemovie@gmail.com.

 

From the editor: We suggest that restaurant recruiting managers looking to hire those previously incarcerated contact transitional housing and rehab facilities, as well as reentry organizations. These can all make good community partners for sourcing people in reentry who are likely to make good employees. In addition to finding these facilities and organizations  by searching the Internet, you can also check with your local American Job Center, which should be able to offer referrals.

For those in reentry, check with your local American Job Center for any restaurant paid internship training programs. Feel free to share this article and refer to Edwins. Craigslist and directly visiting successful restaurants — a best way to hunt — are both great ways to look for positions in the kitchen, or as a busser, dishwasher, bartender or server. Aim for a successful interview and get your foot in the door. Work hard, offer your best attitude, prove yourself and advance.

SBA Small Business Learning Center provides resources for starting a small business

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SBA Small Business Learning CenterWhile working for oneself may provide viable employment for those in reentry, there are a lot of things to learn in order to successfully do so.

And an excellent way to come up to speed on the various aspects of establishing a small business is through the U.S. Small Business Administration’s SBA Small Business Learning Center.

On the center’s website, you will find an online classroom that provides access to advice and guidance that will help you get started in your efforts. And, once your business is established, there’s information on how to help it grow.

The material is presented in a series of short – mainly 30-minute – online courses on subjects that include:

  • Understanding your customer
  • Buying a business
  • Creating a competitive advantage
  • Customer service
  • Cybersecurity for small businesses
  • Establishing values for your business
  • Financing options for small businesses
  • Finding and attracting investors
  • How to prepare a loan package
  • How to write a business plan
  • Introduction to crowdfunding for entrepreneurs
  • Social media marketing

In order to take any of the courses, you just have to click on the icon next to the course description, fill out a registration form, and you’re ready to go.

Need more help?

The site also includes a Local Assistance interactive map where you can search for the nearest Small Business Administration District Office and other organizations that provide training, mentoring and counseling to those who want to start their own businesses. Many services are free of charge. Others have reasonable fees.

If you’ve done the research and decided that starting a small business is what you’d like to do, there’s a Business Plan Tool that provides a step-by-step process to help you put one together.

Then you might want to contact SCORE, a nonprofit organization that pairs people who want to start small businesses with one of its 10,000 volunteer mentors who have experience to share.

And if you’re looking for funding for starting your business, here are some resources that may be able to help you.

 

MIT Living Wage Calculator can help determine how much money you will need for life in various U.S. cities

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living wageIf you’re leaving prison and haven’t been in the workforce for a while, if ever, you might want to turn to the Living Wage Calculator, created by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

It can help you find the answers to a few questions you’ll need to ask yourself as you look for a job:

  • How much money do I estimate it will take to live a basic life?
  • What is the hourly wage I will need to make in the area where I plan to be living?

This information is important to know to make sure you’ll make enough money to live a basic life and/or to consider what type of work to prepare for. Certainly the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour may not be enough.

Even life in cities like San Francisco – which raised its minimum wage to $13 per hour on July 1, 2016, and will raise it again to $14 per hour on July 1, 2017 – can be a struggle for those in jobs that don’t pay more than that.

The minimum wage may not be enough to live on

In many – or most – cases the minimum wage – even that of the few states and cities that have decent ones – won’t meet the needs of most people, so it’s a number you may want to ignore.

Calculating the living wage, however, is very useful. It will let you know the amount of money you need to survive in a specific area of the country. The living wage is the minimum amount of money that people require to meet their basic needs. And the MIT Living Wage Calculator is a very useful online tool that can be utilized to calculate that number.

The Living Wage Calculator determines the living wage for 13 situations ranging from 1 working adult to 2 adults (1 working) and 2 adults with 3 children.

It also includes a list of typical expenses: food, childcare, medical, housing and transportation, as well as the required annual income before taxes, so people will know how much they will need to earn.

For example, a single working adult in Alameda County, Calif., which includes Oakland and Berkeley, will need a required annual income before taxes of $33,116. In St. Louis that figure is $21,702, and in Atlanta it’s $24,988.

A third chart for each location lists the typical annual salaries for a wide variety of jobs in that area.

The website is searchable by state and then county. Using this calculator, along with the other resources you discover as you look for employment, will help you ensure that you get a job that is not only something you find acceptable but will also pay the expenses necessary for a basic lifestyle for wherever you will be living.

 

ACLU report lauds benefits of hiring ex-offenders

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hiring ex-offendersYet another study confirms the advantages to companies of hiring previously incarcerated individuals.

The recently released report, Back to Business: How Hiring Formerly Incarcerated Job Seekers Benefits Your Company, was prepared by the Trone Private Sector and Education Advisory Council for the American Civil Liberties Union.

According to the report, the problem of joblessness among those who have spent time in prison or jail is immense and needs to be solved. More than 640,000 people are released from prison each year, and nearly 75 percent of previously incarcerated individuals remain unemployed a year after they’re released. And “joblessness is the single most important predictor of recidivism.”

This lack of employment by those who have been incarcerated has a dramatic effect on our national economy, reducing the U.S. gross national product by between $78 and $87 billion in a single year.

The report states that:

“Research by economists confirms that hiring people with records is simply smart business. Retention rates are higher, turnover is lower, and employees with criminal records are more loyal. Given the costs associated with turnover and recruitment, researchers have found that “employees with a criminal background are in fact a better pool for employers.”

The report includes case studies of several companies and what they have done to achieve fair chance hiring.

Company case studies highlighted in the report

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Walmart – A case study of Walmart points out that the company has removed “the box” from its application forms and only runs a background check after a potential hire is given a conditional offer. The hiring manager and HR members are only aware of whether the applicant has been cleared for hiring and are not informed of the nature of their conviction(s).

Total Wine & More — Total Wine & More, with 127 superstores in 20 states, found that employees with criminal records had a 12 percent lower annual first-year turnover rate than those without. For cashiers it was 14 percent, merchandising employees 11 percent and wine assistants 11 percent.

eWaste Tech Systems — Richmond Va.-based eWaste Tech Systems created a comprehensive training program for the nearly 50 percent of its employees who have a criminal record. It also works with local workforce development center ResCare to provide services that these employees may need in their reentry efforts.

After showing what various companies have achieved, the report provides steps that others can take t0 create and maintain fair chance hiring:

  • Ban the box on job application forms and postpone asking applicants about their criminal history until further into the hiring process.
  • Consider each employee on a case-by-case basis, evaluating the nature of their crime and whether it’s related to the type of work they will be doing, as well as considering whatever rehabilitation efforts they have accomplished.
  • Conduct a proper background check by asking for only those convictions relevant to the job applied for. Choose a reputable agency, one certified by the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS), if possible. (The report includes a list of questions to ask an agency to ensure proper information is gathered.)
  • Make sure to comply with all state and federal laws and regulations, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Fair Credit Reporting Act and various state and local Ban the Box statutes that may apply to your area.
  • Be proactive in reaching out to qualified job seekers who might have criminal records.
  • Create a process for dealing with applicants who have criminal records, and train hiring managers in this process.

Follow these steps and join a growing list of employers – more than 300 signed the Obama White House Fair Chance Hiring Pledge in 2016 – who are improving staff retention rates, and ultimately their bottom line, by hiring formerly incarcerated individuals.

Donate your used tattoo removal laser device to Jails to Jobs

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used tattoo removal laser deviceAre you a dermatologist, plastic surgeon, hospital, tattoo artist or anyone else who provides tattoo removal treatments? Are you planning to replace your tattoo removal laser device with a newer model?

If so, consider donating your device to Jails to Jobs.

We help community-based organizations acquire laser devices so they may establish or expand a program to provide free or low-cost tattoo removal services to those with visible gang-related, hate or anti-social tattoos or victims of human trafficking who have been tattooed against their will. There are many organizations out there that would like to do this but can’t afford the price of a tattoo removal laser device.

And that’s where you could come in. By donating your device to Jails to Jobs, you will receive a tax deduction.

You will also have the satisfaction of being involved in something that can have a tremendous impact on the lives of others and on a community. Outside In, a Portland, Ore., program that provides health and social services for homeless and other marginalized youth, for example, was able to start its very successful tattoo removal program with a single donated laser device.

What’s acceptable

Any tattoo removal laser device in working condition. Older models are fine if they have been properly maintained.

Your donation will be tax-deductible

Jails to Jobs is a 501(C)3 public charity, and donations are tax deductible. (Nonprofit hospitals may be able to use a donation to help meet their community benefits requirement). We supply donors with a letter that includes the details of the equipment donated and our IRS tax I.D. We don’t include the value of your donation. You must work with your accountant to establish how much it is worth, but we can refer you to a few websites for used equipment – dotmed.com, medprolasers.com and thelaseragent.com – and related companies to help in establishing a fair market value.

If you’d like to be involved in helping those with visible gang-related, anti-social or hate tattoos – or victims of human trafficking with tattoos that remind them of their unhappy past – get them removed, please contact us. You will be instrumental in assisting motivated individuals as they begin to turn their lives around, find employment and become contributing members of society.

 

CareerBuilder survey highlights job interview mistakes and what to watch out for

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interview mistakesFew experiences can be more nerve wracking than being interviewed for a job. But with a bit of awareness of what can go wrong, you will be able to avoid mistakes and make a good impression.

And a good impression is crucial, because it doesn’t take hiring managers very long to make a decision. At least that seems to be the case, based on the results of a nationwide survey, conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder from November 16 to December 6, 2016. Among more than 2,600 hiring and human resource managers surveyed, 51 percent said they know within the first five minutes of an interview if a candidate is a good fit for a position.

Along with doing your research about the company you’re interviewing with and practicing the answers to potential interview questions, there are some very important things to remember that will help you make a good impression.

According to those surveyed by CareerBuilder, your body language could be more important in making a positive impression than what you say. So pay attention to nonverbal communication, and be sure to avoid some common mistakes.

Learn not to make these body language mistakes

Here are the top 10 body language mistakes mentioned in the survey and the percentage of hiring managers who felt they were a problem:

  1. Failing to make eye contact: 67 percent
  2. Failing to smile: 39 percent
  3. Playing with something on the table: 34 percent
  4. Fidgeting too much in their seats: 32 percent
  5. Crossing their arms over their chests: 32 percent
  6. Having bad posture: 31 percent
  7. Playing with their hair or touching their faces: 28 percent
  8. Having a weak handshake: 22 percent
  9. Using too many hand gestures: 13 percent
  10. Having a handshake that was too strong: 9 percent

These body language mistakes are something you can memorize and try to avoid.

Worst things job applicants can do in an interview

The survey also found a few things that were even more problematic than bad body language. In fact they are the worse things that hiring managers say an applicant can do during an interview. And they could potentially ensure that you won’t get the job.

  • Candidate is caught lying about something: 66 percent
  • Candidate answers a cellphone or text during the interview: 64 percent
  • Candidate appears arrogant or entitled: 59 percent
  • Candidate dresses inappropriately: 49 percent
  • Candidate appears to have a lack of accountability: 48 percent

Keep all these tips of what to avoid in mind, and your chances of getting that job you’re after will continue to improve.

 

How to hire health care workers from a unique population – those with criminal records

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hire health care workersHospitals and health care agencies and facilities are scrambling to fill a rapidly growing need for workers at every level. And there’s a population that’s eager and ready to fill those positions.

That population is people with criminal records, and if Johns Hopkins Medicine is any indication, they make pretty good workers. Johns Hopkins Medicine operates six hospitals and other medical facilities and has pioneered hiring formerly incarcerated individuals to work in them. In fact, about 20 percent of entry level hires have come from this population each year over the past decade.

A five-year study of nearly 500 people it hired with records showed a lower turnover during the first 40 months of these employees than non-offenders. A further study found that 73 out of 79 employees with serious records were still employed after three to six years. The organization published The Johns Hopkins Hospital Success in Hiring Ex-Offenders to explain why and how they do it.

Now other health care facilities that would like to hire people with records have a step-by-step guide that will lead them through the process. Chicago’s Safer Foundation and the National Employment Law Project have published A Healthcare Employer Guide to Hiring People with Arrest and Conviction Records: Seizing the Opportunity to Tap a Large, Diverse Workforce.

The comprehensive 61-page toolkit covers the why and how to of hiring people with records and offers success stories of those who have been hired and facilities that have hired people from this population.

Urgent need for workers in an employment sector that will become the nation’s largest

The need is urgent as the toolkit points out. During the next decade health care will become the nation’s largest employment sector, with an estimated addition of 3.8 million jobs. At the same time, an estimated nearly 700,000 people are being released from jails and prisons each year and need employment.

The toolkit urges institutions and organizations to seriously consider hiring some of those people.

“Given the burgeoning market for healthcare services and the forecasted competition for skilled workers, we encourage you to fully consider qualified people with records when filling healthcare job openings,” it says. “The singular demand for workers combined with the nation’s recognition of the need for criminal justice reform presents an opportunity for you to invest in previously untapped talent pools, including people with arrest or conviction records.”

This toolkit, among other things:

  • Dispels the many myths about hiring ex-offenders.
  • Explains why hiring people with records is good for a business because, it can
    • help enlarge its talent pool
    • reduce recruiting costs
    • increase diversity and corporate social responsibility
    • help an institution or service comply with federal employment laws
    • reduce turnover by hiring loyal employees
    • increase quality of health care by hiring people who understand vulnerable populations
    • take advantage of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit and the Federal Bonding Program, both government incentive programs

The major goal of the toolkit is to offer a step-by-step guide to hiring people with arrest or conviction records.

Things to consider when hiring people with records

Here is a brief outline of the steps to follow:

Step 1: Be careful of the language you use. Not all people with records spent time in prison, so avoid terms like ex-offender or formerly incarcerated.

Step 2: Do not automatically exclude applicants with a record, and create fair screening standards.

Step 3: Ban the box on application forms in order to give people with a record a fair chance.

Step 4: Don’t make decisions on the applicant’s suitability based on what they self-disclose, because they could be confused or have misinformation about their conviction.

Step 5: If you must do a background check, use a reliable company and allow the applicant a chance to verify the accuracy of the information it provides.

Step 6: If employment is denied as the result of a background check, the employer should give the applicant a pre-adverse action notice with a copy of the background check. The employer should also indicate the offense that disqualified them from being hired and offer an opportunity to present evidence of rehabilitation before a final hiring decision is made.

Step 7: After all of the evidence is considered, either hire the candidate or formally rescind the offer in writing.

The toolkit recommends working with community-based intermediary groups. Doing so ensures a pipeline of suitable employees, and the toolkit gives seven tips on how to create effective relationships with those sourcing partners.

A section on workforce development best practices and a chart that serves as an example of a career pathway for a person interested in advancing in the health care field round out the resources of this useful toolkit.

 

How to create a nonprofit organization to support a free or low-cost tattoo removal program

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tattoo removal programFrom time-to-time medical professionals, tattoo artists, organizations and others who want to start a free or low-cost tattoo removal program ask us how they can also start a nonprofit organization to support their efforts.

Establishing a nonprofit is a bit of work but can provide many benefits for those who choose to do so. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit you will be able to solicit tax-deductible donations, including cash and other assets, corporate gifts, foundation and government grants, and even laser medical devices or other equipment and supplies.

Of course, you can hire a lawyer to complete the entire process, but it’s also possible for people to do it on their own.

Here are some basics that we’ve learned about how to set up a nonprofit.

Perhaps the best way is to purchase legal publisher Nolo’s How to Form a Nonprofit Corporation: A Step-by-Step Guide to Forming a 501 (c)(3) Nonprofit in Any State. This comprehensive book walks readers through the process and answers almost any question that may arise. Although it’s possible to do it all with this book, some organizations might want a lawyer to go over the final documents before they’re submitted to ensure that everything is in order.

This is the way we at Jails to Jobs did it. We used this book and had a lawyer review the final documents before submitting them to the IRS.

The Foundation Center offers details on where to find pro bono legal and accounting help at its Grantspace website.

Consider a fiscal sponsor

An alternative to forming a nonprofit is to seek out a fiscal sponsor. A fiscal sponsor is any 501(c)(3) public charity that is willing to sponsor the projects of other organizations. Those organizations are then able to use their sponsor’s tax-exempt status to solicit tax-deductible donations and grants of their own, with the sponsor getting a percentage – usually 10 percent – of the total amount of money donated or grants received.

In most cases the projects must be related to the mission of the fiscal sponsor and be of benefit to it. Fiscal sponsors can also provide such back-office duties as bookkeeping, payroll and other human resource services, insurance, legal review and referral. They can also offer training and help with fundraising, communications and marketing. The Foundation Center offers more information on fiscal sponsorship and suggests books and articles to read at its Grantspace website.

It’s possible to find a fiscal sponsor through networking with local nonprofits and recruiting your own or searching online for similar organizations that might have an interest in being a fiscal sponsor. There’s also a Fiscal Sponsor Directory that is searchable by state and province (Canada) or by service category that may help you find one.

For many organizations getting started using a fiscal sponsor might be a good strategy, since you won’t have to wait for the IRS approval of your application, which can take months. Although usually if you’ve applied for federal tax exemption, opened a bank account, and registered with the state, you can in fact begin to solicit funds.

But having the support of an existing public charity and the resources it offers as a fiscal sponsor can be quite helpful and well worth the fee charged.  It can also be easier to receive foundation gifts, as foundations may be leery to gift money to organizations that don’t yet have a track record.

 

California’s CDCR STOP program targets those leaving prison who have a risk of reoffending

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CDCR Stop

Tom Lucking

During the past decade, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has focused on rehabilitation in order to help those leaving prison have more chances to succeed, with the end goal of a reduction in recidivism.

One effective way it has done this is through the Specialized Treatment for Optimized Programming (STOP). A series of contractors throughout the state works with selected individuals in reentry who the California Static Risk Assessment has identified as being at a medium or high risk for reoffending. These contractors provide a variety of services — for 180 days with a possible extension of up to a year — to those leaving prison.

One of these STOP providers is New Life Community Services of Santa Cruz, Calif. It specializes in dealing with those in reentry who have alcohol and drug addiction problems.

“We pull people into programs within 24 hours of leaving prison. We continue the program (started within prison), so they don’t get into their old behaviors and go back,” says Tom Lucking, former executive director who still works part-time in the program.

New Life Community Services operates a 38-bed coed facility, but what they do begins in the prison.

“They have substance abuse counseling. They’re given a lot of services while in prison to prepare for their release. Counselors encourage them to consider participation,” Lucking says. “I go to provider fairs and explain what New Life does. It’s education, encouragement and counseling. In the end, it leads up to a decision for them to take advantage of all these free services.”

As a STOP provider, New Life offers 25 hours of programming each week to its program residents. This could be anything from anger management to substance abuse, as part of a curriculum driven by the state of California. The classes take place in the evenings.

Since it’s a vocational program as well, each participant has a job. “We have relationships with employers in the community who have hired our folks before. We help them (people in the program) with their resume, and then they go out and meet with these employers.”

New Life does treatment outcomes and uses screenings and measurements from Texas Christian University, which has done many studies on criminality.

Other resources they have found to be helpful and have utilized for program guidance and curriculum are Thinking for a Change from the National institute of Corrections, Terry Gorski’s work on anger management and the National Association for Children of Addiction work on celebrating families.

A majority of people make it through the program

“About 60% to 75% of the people make it through the program. It’s voluntary from the beginning, so that helps our ability to succeed in the long run,” says Lucking.

Even though a percentage of participants doesn’t make it, Lucking says there’s a tremendous interest in the program. “When I go to the provider fairs, I’ll have 100 inmates appear per session,” he says. He also estimates that up to 90% of those incarcerated have a substance abuse problem.

Those soon-to-be-released in California need to be told of these programs

“Surprisingly not that many inmates we speak with know about this available help,” Lucking said. Those on the outside who know of these programs should make sure any incarcerated family members or friends know about them too to help spread the word. Parole is involved in these programs and could also be a good resource and advocate and provide support.

What groups in other states can do

How can other groups in other states do something similar?

“The good news is that there are a lot of resources being put into addressing this problem right now in places like California and New York,” Lucking says.

“You have to find a friendly state system that will support this reentry rehabilitative effort within the community and build relationships and see if you get support. If you do, there’s a lot of opportunity there to be of help.”

First, however, Lucking suggests that anyone interested in helping to start a new program should contact their local county sheriff’s department or state department of corrections and check to see if a similar program already exists. It’s possible that those incarcerated and soon-to-be-released are not aware of existing programs they may be eligible for.

Setting up a program is no small task. There has to be a facility and counselors, and everything usually has to be credentialed. It’s also necessary to have connections within the prison system. Another way to get help is to consult with an organization like Center Point , which operates in California, Oklahoma and Texas and is the one his nonprofit works with.  Other California State contractors and their contact information can be found at this link — CDCR STOP Community Provider Directory.

Lucking is encouraged when he goes to pre-release provider fairs at state prisons, where the inmates he speaks with are really interested in and committed to getting out and using the services of his and other organizations.

“I walk out thinking that this is rehabilitation in action and it’s gratifying. It doesn’t have to be this punitive justice system. There can be a restorative justice element – something that encourages inmates to support each other.”