Getting a job if you have a criminal record\u00a0\u2014 for people who have been incarcerated, are on parole or probation, or recently released from judicial oversight \u2014 can be like trying to remount a skittish, bucking horse.<\/p>\n
Sometimes you make it through the application process with an offer for a position, say clients at the Center for Employment Opportunities. But when a background check shows a felony conviction, it\u2019s usually back to the stirrups to start over.<\/p>\n
The social enterprise organization operates in 12 states and 30 cities, including Colorado Springs, where it will hire 187 to 200 people this year who are reintegrating into society.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s difficult having an employer stick with you\u00a0\u2014 HR is like, \u2018Um, you have some things on your record,\u2019\u201d said Greg Schultz, who was incarcerated at age 19 several years ago and now is on probation.<\/p>\n
He said he loves that the Center for Employment Opportunities helps people overcome their past by concentrating on the present and planning for the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt gives people with records an opportunity to get back in the workforce and build skills and move through the transition,\u201d Schultz said.<\/p>\n
The program is the only one of its kind in southern Colorado and functions as a steppingstone to helping people gain steady employment and become self-sufficient, said Eric Abraham, program manager for the Colorado Springs office.<\/p>\n
This year’s goal is to place 110 clients locally, more than a half of the caseload, in full-time, permanent jobs, he said.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s such a need for the services the nonprofit organization provides that the waiting list to get in is more than 300 people deep.<\/p>\n
Maddi Grant, who said she encountered a \u201cwrong time, wrong place\u201d situation, did her time, lived in a halfway house in 2022, exited parole last year and has been with Colorado Employment Opportunities for about six weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy charge looks bad,\u201d she said. \u201cI wasn\u2019t getting job offers because of my background, which happens a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Grant, 29, worked as a security officer before she landed in prison. Now, she\u2019s finishing the first year of training to become an electrician and has her eye on an apprenticeship.<\/p>\n
The daily paycheck she receives\u00a0\u2014 usually minimum wage, but the pay can vary from contract to contract\u00a0\u2014\u00a0covers her bills and keeps her focused on entering her preferred career field.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis program has just been awesome. They help with clothing, job readiness, applications, school, OSHA training, CDL (commercial driver’s license)\u00a0training. They answer any questions and help you build a stable life and get a second chance,\u201d Grant said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all have different baggage, and they treat us like human beings. We don\u2019t get treated like human beings a lot. We have that stigmatization as people with felonies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Abraham said employees\u00a0\u2014\u00a0many of whom had been in the program \u2014don\u2019t judge anyone by their convictions or their history.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t discriminate against any offenses \u2014 we get people with anything from minor offenses to things some people wouldn\u2019t take on,\u201d Abraham said. \u201cThere\u2019s thousands of people that get released from incarceration daily that won\u2019t get hired. A lot are being overlooked.\u201d<\/p>\n
Participants are referred by a halfway house, sober-living facility, parole or probation officer, or existing clients.<\/p>\n
The voluntary program accepts adults only for an initial term of 75 days. But participants can return for \u201credevelopment,\u201d if the full-time job they secure doesn\u2019t pan out. They also can be on retention status with the organization for a year.<\/p>\n
Up to 30 crew members at any given time work four days a week and spend one day a week in job coaching and development. There\u2019s also assistance with mental health problems and connections to necessities such as food and housing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe work through the barriers,\u201d Abraham said.<\/p>\n
The organization supplies all tools, equipment, proper clothing including boots, gloves and vests, cell phones, hardhats, porta potties at job sites and workers\u2019 compensation coverage.<\/p>\n
Assignments include litter abatement along highways in conjunction with the Colorado Department of Transportation and of illegal homeless camps in partnership with local jurisdictions. There\u2019s also landscaping, janitorial, construction projects, CDL driving and other tasks.<\/p>\n
It can be a hard sell to convince employers to use the organization\u2019s clients for projects, Abraham said, but interest is high enough to keep the work flowing.<\/p>\n
The manual labor can be tough, members of a cleanup crew said last week, while they finished extracting piles of trash from a hard-to-reach homeless encampment under I-25 north of the Woodmen Road exit in El Paso County.<\/p>\n
The site had been turned into a facsimile of an apartment complex, with separate tented units wedged between lofty rafters that shudder with a steady flow of high-speed traffic above. A wooden structure also had been built at the site.<\/p>\n
Workers from the Center for Employment Opportunities said they removed 60 shopping carts, close to 100 tires and even a printer. \u201cWho would have thought,\u201d one muttered.<\/p>\n
The El Paso County Sheriff\u2019s Office has the answer. \u201cDeputies found evidence those occupying the encampment were illegally tapping into I-25 light poles for electricity to power televisions, lighting and stereo equipment,\u201d Sgt. Kurt Smith said.<\/p>\n
Mattresses, bike frames, \u201ca significant amount of drug paraphernalia\u201d and several tons of debris awaited what the sheriff\u2019s office called \u201ca restoration\u201d of the area.<\/p>\n
For three days last week, the 23-member team from the Center for Employment Opportunities picked up, bagged and trudged refuse up steep embankments on either side of Pine Creek.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s better than being locked up, they said.<\/p>\n
Ronald Mathis just got out of incarceration in March for the second time and has been back with the Center for Employment Opportunities since then. He also used the program in 2020 and had found a job as a machinist before returning to prison on a six-year sentence.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a past, and my past doesn\u2019t define me,\u201d he said. \u201cI had to make a mental change\u00a0\u2014 you have to want to succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mathis is seeking CDL certification, and while the schooling is expensive, the organization will reimburse him for educational costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can tell the staff really want you to succeed,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re passionate about guiding you on a good path.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alex Murriel, 33, was a client who mostly picked up trash along highways, after doing two weeks in county jail during the pandemic and receiving a lengthy probation that recently ended.<\/p>\n
For the past nine months, he\u2019s been a site supervisor and also manages a sober-living house in town.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day I wake up willing and wanting to go to work,\u201d Murriel said. \u201cIt\u2019s a big change, but no matter what job you do, you\u2019re either gonna do a good job or a bad job at it. It\u2019s your choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clients learn hard and soft skills, such as safety, productivity, conduct and dress, he said.<\/p>\n
Along with \u201cget insoles for the boots, they\u2019re uncomfortable\u201d and \u201cbring a water bottle,\u201d Murriel\u2019s main advice for clients is: \u201cIf you come and show up and show out, this program will work for you all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schultz, the newbie on the crew, aspires to be a general manager of a sports team, but in the meantime, he\u2019s looking for \u201canything that keeps me productive.\u201d Another intention for his life: \u201cI want to make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getting a job if you have a criminal record\u00a0\u2014 for people who have been incarcerated, are on parole…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":110353,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3092],"tags":[50974,51,50973,50972,50975,50971,50977,50979,50981,897,50980,50978,50976,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-112357","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jobs","8":"tag-alex-murriel","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-career-services","11":"tag-center-for-employment-opportunities","12":"tag-colorado-department-of-transportation","13":"tag-colorado-springs","14":"tag-el-paso-county-sheriffs-office","15":"tag-eric-abraham","16":"tag-greg-schultz","17":"tag-jobs","18":"tag-kurt-smith","19":"tag-maddi-grant","20":"tag-ronald-mathis","21":"tag-uk","22":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114530258960696333","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112357\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}