Reentry Employment Should Focus on Labor Market Shortfalls

     According to a 2015 Forbes article, the largest labor shortages are in the fields of automobile repair, the skilled construction trades, engineering, computer technicians, and nursing.  While nursing is likely out, unless the candidate can get collateral sanctions waved by a vehicles like Ohio's CQE, and Engineering may be a stretch, these other high paying jobs are usually available for returning citizens, if they have the training.  Applicants are often hired within 48 hours, according to the article, and salaries frequently exceed $50,000.  this should be exciting news in the reentry world, but I don't see too many reentry agencies attempting to get their clients trained in these fields.

     In Cleveland, Ohio, local workforce readiness nonprofit Towards Employment has recognized the need for skilled trades and has begun a training program.  Recognizing these gaps in the labor market provides the greatest chance at overcoming barriers to employment.  Many local community colleges and trade schools offer financial aid, as well.  Skills can often be acquired in a year or less.  So many young people today are not pursuing the trades and are choosing college instead.  The existing tradesmen are aging out, which is creating a huge shortage.  I read this as a huge opportunity for good paying work for those with barriers to employment.

     Construction trades are not the only opportunities available either.  Automotive repair and machining often have short training programs, as well.  In speaking with a representative from Cuyahoga Community College, I found out that 3D printing classes can be completed in less than a year.  All of the credits earned are accepted by Case Western Reserve toward an engineering degree, and they partner with many local employers to provide internships and employment.  Furthermore, financial aid is available to the ex-offender as long as they did not commit a crime while on scholastic financial aid in the past.  Computer coding (programming) boot camps last six months or less and often have deferred tuition that is not due until a job is found.  Even if a job is not found, the programmer can freelance to supplement their income while working elsewhere.  Comprehensive Reentry is going to take part in a feasibility study with a Cleveland State University graduate student about the possibility of conducting a computer coding boot camp inside the prison system.  A similar program was successful in California's San Quentin prison and had excellent results.  Computer programming can be a highly lucrative career.

     It is critical to exploit these market shortfalls if returning citizens are to overcome their barriers to employment.  More reentry agencies need to recognize the importance of this strategy and begin training their clients in these areas.  It is for this reason that Comprehensive Reentry will be adding an educational opportunities section to the site in the near future.  Barriers to employment are not insurmountable.  It is absolutely critical to keep that determined mindset and find a way to get trained in one of the most in-demand career fields of the future.  Good luck!

Richard E. Alvarez, Executive Director

www.comprehensivereentry.org

Can Comprehensive Reentry Be A Game Changer?

     This is a big week for Comprehensive Reentry!  I have been asked by the NEO Launch Net Baldwin Wallace Chapter to speak at their inaugural event at the Center for Innovation and Growth.  Michael Nock has been invaluable in his advice on some of the best ways to get this venture off the ground.  I am grateful for all those who have helped get us to this point, especially Dr. Robert Gleeson at Cleveland State, Logan Fahey, DeAndre and Sona Nixon of InEducation, and my sister Melanie.  On Friday from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm, I will be debuting this site www.comprehensivereentry.org at a job fair for Oriana House at 6000 Hough Ave.   Cleveland, Ohio.  It begins a very important period for this organization as we seek to launch in the beginning of February.

     For those of you who don't know what this site is about yet, it is essentially an on-line portal where returned citizens will be able to locate employment opportunities, social service agencies, and other important information about reentry.  It will be the first such site in Cleveland, Ohio to strip away the mystery of which employers will consider hiring ex-offenders and which won't,  and to centralize all of the social service agencies that deal with reentry issues in our area.  If it works as planned, it could be revolutionary change in the way information  about reentry employment and social services is delivered.  I have already included some basic service agencies and a job at my other company, Lakeside Grounds Management, but I will continue to add to the database as I approach the various stakeholders in person about listing with us.  It will always be a work in progress, but I am very excited about the possibilities.  

     I will begin to fundraise during this period, as well.  We will require funds to keep this project up and running, so I hope you will consider a donation to Comprehensive Reentry.  It is tax deductible.  Please consider sharing this posting with anyone you know who might have a heart for this work or need our services.  Tell us what you think.  Is this a game changer?

-Richard E. Alvarez

Executive Director Comprehensive Reentry, Inc.

Is Connecticut a Criminal Justice Reform Model?

     Governor of the State of Connecticut, Daniel Malloy, has engaged in one of the most progressive criminal justice reform experiments in the nation, and it seems to be working.  Crime is now at a 48 year low, and it is falling faster than anywhere else in the country.  This is at the same time that the crime rate is relatively unchanged across in most of the rest of the nation.  Connecticut's prison population has also drastically dropped from 20,000 in 2008 to 15,600.  What's their key to success?  It's a belief in mercy in second chances.

     Last February, Mr. Malloy announced his "Second Chance Society," which aims to reduce the number of people heading into prison and to make it easier for those who are getting out to live a law abiding life.  He has instituted a new job training program for prisoners that are about to be released.  He has also repealed the death penalty, legalized medical marijuana, reduced drug possession from a felony to a misdemeanor, done away with mandatory minimum sentences, passed very strict gun control laws, and increased police accountability with body cameras, more minority recruitment, and used independent investigators in police deadly force incidents.  Furthermore, Malloy has proposed raising the adult age of criminal culpability to 21 from 18 after viewing research on brain development.  Anyone under 21 would be tried in Juvenile Court instead of normal adult court.

     As a former police officer and political conservative, this flies in the face of everything I've ever been taught about criminal justice policy.  "Getting tough on crime," has been part of the mantra of this nation for so long that most of us came to accept it as the only logical way to deal with crime, but could that be wrong?  Is it possible that being merciful is more successful in many cases?  Maybe only a certain element of criminal behavior needs to be dealt with so harshly, while the rest needs more of rehabilitative effort.  This experiment is new, so long term success has yet to be determined, but it is hard to argue with the short term results of Mr. Malloy's experiment.  It is also important to note that the causes of crime are quite complex, so it can be dangerous to assume a cause and effect relationship with the Governor's policies and the reduction in crime, but it bears watching.  You can read an article about this by following this link: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/04/opinion/connecticuts-second-chance-society.html?_r=1.

-Rich

A Clean Slate

So, 2016 has arrived, and with it is a chance to start with a clean slate.  To err is human, and we have all have made mistakes.  Some of us have made greater ones than others, but a new year is an opportunity to reflect on our past mistakes for one purpose only.  We should examine our mistakes for useful information, so that we do not repeat them.  That's it!  After that, it's time to leave them where they belong, in the past.  A new year is the time to set new goals and advance beyond our mistakes.  It is a clean slate in many ways.  This doesn't mean we are automatically forgiven by others or that we still won't suffer the consequences of our past misdeeds, but it does mean that we can, and should, approach them with a new mindset.

Too many of us, especially those of us who have made huge mistakes, tend to focus on those failures of the past.  We allow ourselves to be defined by those missteps, because society wants to define us that way.  This type of mindset can be detrimental to your success and mental health.  A new year should be about a new mindset.  It should be about, "How can I overcome the obstacles that others place in my path, because they want to pigeon-hole me according to my past?"  Most people aren't going to take the time to get to know who you really are, and they sure aren't just going to hand you opportunities.  It is up to you to develop a mindset that says, "I'm going to knock on the door over and over again until they open up.  If they still won't open up, I'm going to kick the damn door down."  That's paraphrasing the old Houston Oilers head coach Bum Phillips.  It means that persistence and hard work will pay off if you don't give up.  That may mean 101 applications need to be filed to land that job.  It means developing a set of goals, both personal and professional, and creating a strategy to achieve those goals.  Goals are just ideas without action, however. You must take those first few scary steps until it becomes a habit.

A new year is a clean slate to live your life according to your new strategies.  What will you do with it?  What are your goals?  How are you going to get there?  What skills and knowledge do you need to acquire to get there?  Do you have the courage to take the necessary steps or are you just going to pay lip service to it?  Don't be imprisoned by the expectations and limitations placed on your by others.  You can succeed.  Now go out and achieve it!

-Rich