Attitude, programs help ex-felons find jobs

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story is the second in an occasional series about the difficulties ex-felons face in Missouri. Each year, about 20,000 felons are released from prison, but face roadblocks in re-entering society, particularly the workforce.

"What are you going to do now that you've graduated?"

It's a common question this time of year. Many people know the feeling of being put on the spot when that question is asked, either by relatives at a graduation party or friends wondering whether they'll cross paths again. And despite having put in hours of study, training and going through interviews, many people still haven't found the right fit. A world of opportunity is waiting outside those doors.

Now imagine those doors have bars.

As overwhelming as it may be for a recent high-school or college graduate to imagine stepping out into the "real world," those who have paid their debt to society and are preparing to re-enter the workforce face sizable hurdles.

Some, such as Benjamin Bird, however, say the key to success is taking initiative -- not waiting for people to come to you.

"That's the No. 1 thing about criminality: We always want to wait for the easy way out," Bird said. "That's why a lot of us resort to the lifestyle of being a criminal."

On the inside

A Sept. 30 bulletin from the U.S. Department of Justice, "Prisoners in 2013," reported 18,983 admissions to Missouri prisons in 2013. There were 18,790 releases.

Of those releases, 1,621 were unconditional, while 17,041 were conditional.

Conditional release includes terms such as discretionary and mandatory parole, or postcustody probation. Unconditional releases are a result of things such as sentences expiring, commutations and court-ordered discharges.

An incarcerated person has several training and education opportunities.

Offenders who do not have a high-school diploma, GED or High School Equivalency Certificate are required to participate in Adult Basic Education classes, according to the Missouri Department of Corrections.

Programs are available for those working toward their certificates: school-based programs, including vocational training such as automotive repair, plumbing, welding, cosmetology and certified nursing assistant training; literacy classes; and Title I and special education for offenders younger than 21.

The Missouri Vocational Enterprises program operates industries to provide products and services to city and county governments, state agencies, not-for-profit organizations and other entities. Its goal is to increase employment and training opportunities for offenders to promote "law-abiding conduct" after release, according to the Department of Corrections' website.

Twenty-four industries are operated in 13 state correctional facilites, employing about 1,400 offenders monthly, the website says. Products range from chemical products and tire recycling to engraving license plates and manufacturing and installing office systems.

"Particularly in the federal system, there are apprenticeship programs that we connect with programs on the outside," U.S. probation officer Brian Gray said from his Cape Girardeau office. "So they finish the first two years of a three-year apprenciceship program, then we want to plug them in for that third year when they get out in the community."

Inmates can volunteer to attend job fairs held by the penitentiary. Probation and parole personnel conduct mock job interviews.

"We'll set up the video camera so that people can work through that and get through some of the jitters and answer the felony question, the million-dollar question: 'I see you've been convicted of a felony. Tell me about that,'" Gray said. "... We teach them not to walk up to people and say, 'Do you hire felons?'"

Those conducting the mock interviews give feedback on inmates' responses. Three employees in the local federal probation office are certified offender workforce development specialists, trained to help ex-convicts seeking employment.

Former inmate Bird never had a job before going to prison.

Though he had completed three years of college, Bird had been unemployed before being sentenced to 100 months on drug charges in February 2008.

"You have to prepare yourself for your homecoming," Bird said. "And so you have to do work, you have to put forth the legwork -- which I did a multitude of work."

Bird said he took classes and training courses while incarcerated.

"I just took the opportunity. Anything that was offered to me while I was in there, I just took it."

Bird said he didn't do any type of recreation, not even watching TV or playing cards, while he was in prison, instead choosing to study and tutor illiterate inmates.

"It's something that you have to want to do yourself," Bird said. "A lot of guys in there, they're complacent. ... My whole thing was, the purpose of prison is punishment, so I took it as that. ..."

Sometimes inmates who have never been employed don't know how to act on the job, Gray said.

For example, if a supervior yells at them, "they may feel like they're disrespected and quit. So they have to work through that," Gray said. "They have to understand that they have superiors, and they're going to tell you what to do and you'e a subordinate, and have to learn to work alongside people next to them that may or may not be like them."

A hand up

Workforce Investment Board president and chief operating officer June O'Dell said the organization does not keep local data on how many people they help are felons, but they try to build relationships to encourage ex-cons to come for them to help.

"We try to partner together, as well. Just like we here in Cape are doing with [U.S. probation officer] Darren [Tipton] and Brian [Gray], each career center tries to bring in those partners, so that there is that open communication, to where those parole officers can say, 'Hey, have you been to the career center yet?'"

People who might walk in to places such as the Workforce Investment Board or Community Caring Council may not be on supervision.

"But we can make referrals over there, too," Gray said. "The reality is there are other funding sources, too. If someone doesn't have a birth certificate, we can help them through Second Chance Act funds on the federal side. But it's a big part of our job to make sure that folks are employed, and if they're not employed, to determine what we need to help them with."

The Second Chance Act, signed into law in 2008, authorizes federal grants to government agencies and not-for-profit organizations to provide support and services intended to reduce recidivism, according to csgjusticecenter.org.

Bird said he got interested in driving a truck when he went to work for his father at a pallet company and saw other drivers coming in to pick up cargo and "getting paid handsomely."

"I mentioned it to my [parole officer], and at first it was a no-go because they had already had the class," Bird said.

But he said his probation officer, Toni Smith, saw how adamant he was and helped him get enrolled using Second Chance Act funding.

He said he had his driver's license, "so the first thing that I did was go down to the school and fill out an application because I knew I was already prequalified with the federal funding." After a drug screening, he was accepted into the school and began classes. Bird, who lives in Cape Girardeau, said after he completed training, PTI in Sikeston, Missouri, welcomed him "with open arms."

O'Dell said the Workforce Investment Board in the past has designed workshops to address a felon's history and worked with parole officers to bring in felons. The former inmates were in the workshops with only their peers, and people were brought in to help them learn things such as how to answer resume and interview questions honestly, without giving too much information too soon.

"Then we put them right into the regular workshops of the work-ready."

She said response to the workshops was good, and the Workforce Investment Board would be open to running them again if another group would need help.

Marketable skills

O'Dell said the organization used to help inmates with GED classes, but a lack of funding prevents that. Although it helps with mock interviews from time to time, most of the Workforce Investment Board's work is after inmates are released.

"We have the four career centers in the southeast region, and each career center tries to maintain a list of employers that will hire felons," O'Dell said. "And they work pretty close with these companies. ..."

Some companies don't advertise that they will hire felons, O'Dell said, but if a person has skills a company is looking for, the counselors will help with that, as well.

Gray said probation officers encourage people "to pick a job based on your skills and who you are. A convicted felon is not who you are, it's something that happened in your life, something that you did, but you've got to move forward. And there are employers that are certainly willing to give people an opportunty. But presenting yourself as a convicted felon, that's not who you are. You're a person who has skills in this particular area and can benefit the employer in this way."

O'Dell used the example of someone who has a background in welding, but doesn't have a certificate. She said if the person is interested in picking it up again, the Workforce Investment Board could cover the cost of a short-term class to earn the certificate.

"Then you've got a paper to take with you. Then you've got a certificate to prove you can do these job skills," O'Dell said.

The Workforce Investment Board also can help felons when they've found employment.

In addition to a van service that operates in Cape Girardeau city limits, O'Dell said, the organization can provide financial assistance.

"We have been able to help them with a gas voucher or help them with their transportation ... as well as buying steel-toe boots or maybe the scrubs, or just whatever they would need, within reason, to be ready for that job."

Bird said he thinks many people being released from prison don't know about some of the resources available, such as public-transportation options or computers available for free Internet at public libraries.

Bird had some advice for felons being released: " ... Communicate with your officer. If I don't know something, I'm gonna ask."

He suggested people go to places such as the Social Security office, federal building, even college campuses to find out what type of aid is available.

"I never gave up hope, I never quit it," Bird said. "I used prison for the purpose of punishment because I never wanted to go back. And I'm not."

Whether they come through the doors on their own or are referred by the probation office, those released from prison go through the same welcome and initial assessment as everyone else.

"And then, when they get back to a career counselor, then they would talk more specific about their situations."

Gray said probation officers also try to help inmates find their niche.

"You haven't experienced life, so how do you know what you want to do?" Gray said. "But there are assessments that can tell you, 'Well, I like to work with my hands; I like to work outside,' that can kind of guide someone based on how their interests go.

"We want people to have a job with livable wages, something that they're going to stick with. We also want them to do something they're interested in," Gray said. Like the Workforce Investment Board, the probation office does assessments to try to plug felons in to job fields based on interests.

"There's a concept called a 'transitional job,' which may be just kind of a survival job, cutting grass or whatever," Gray said, adding they may have to do that until they have the skills, resources and opportunity to do what they really want.

"The interesting thing is, in our field, a lot of people, no one's ever asked them what they want to do, and they've never really thought about it."

kwebster@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address:

760 S Kingshighway, Cape Girardeau, MO 63703