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Agencies Seek More Services for Formerly Incarcerated
PIC Supports Alameda County Reentry Network
A coalition of public agencies and
nonprofit groups met recently with local officials, calling for expanded
services  to meet the desperate needs of formerly incarcerated people in Oakland
and throughout Alameda County.
The meeting, held on Sept. 19, was called by
the Alameda County Reentry Network to propose more effective services to
the formerly incarcerated in order to reduce recidivism and improve public
safety.
The immediate focus is on income, job placement and training, said Arnold
Perkins, who moderated the meeting. Perkins, former director of the Alameda
County Public Health Department, currently works with Mayor Ron Dellums
developing a public safety program.
"We have to work as a team to get this done for income support, workforce
training and employment," Perkins said. "We know that income is a priority, and
folks are going to get income anyway they can."
"We have a failed system," said Perkins, pointing out that 70 percent of people coming out of prison in California end up back in prison.
Current statistics show 90 percent of people in jail eventually are released, he said. In Alameda
County, there are 16,438 people who
are on parole or probation.
Especially impacted are people of color, who make up 84 percent of parolees.
African Americans are the largest group, comprising 67 percent.
"These are sobering statistics," said Gay Plair Cobb,
PIC's Chief Executive Officer, who described the
network's projects, including a resource directory that will make available the
full range of local services. (Pictured above is Cobb speaking at the meeting.)
Speaking for All of Us or None, an organization of the formerly incarcerated,
Linda Evans agreed with the network's focus on jobs and income. "Employment is
what breeds stability in people, stability in housing and family
reunification."
Evans also emphasized that individuals coming out of prison need public health
services.
"They need a chance to heal from the damage, the suffering that prison inflicts
on people. It's part of the transition."
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PIC Receives $2,500 Mini-Grant to Register Young Voters
Part-Time Youth Conduct Outreach in Career Center and Community
PIC has received a mini-grant from the
San Francisco Foundation to conduct voter education and registration
among potential young voters.
 "We have a part-time youth person who will register voters in the
One-Stop Career Center at 1212 Broadway, and two part-time youth who
are going to malls, community colleges, organizations for young people,
churches, to the different places where youth are," said Robin
Raveneau, who coordinates the project for PIC.
Jessica Aaron, one of the youth voter outreach workers, is shown here registering voters at the Downtown One-Stop Career Center.
PIC's voter registration work is part of its ongoing efforts to support young people as they seek employment and other career opportunities.
Kenya Holloman, who was registering voters on recently at a table at
the National Green Jobs Now rally at Mosswood Park, was eager for the
opportunity to explain to people why they need to vote.
"It's extremely
important," she said. "If everyone knew how much it was going to
affect them, they would register to vote.
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UPS Recruits Teenagers at PIC
Young People Are Interviewed and Hired
"If
the elevator is broken, we still go up to the twelfth floor with the
package," said Jasmine Shields, Human Resource Specialist at United
Parcel Service.
"You take that little dolly and you go up and then you go up again, until you deliver them all.
"I want you to sit down and think, beyond the paycheck, about want you
want for the future and if this job can help you get what you want, to
pay for college, support yourself or for health coverage."
It was a recent Thursday afternoon, and 30 teenage prospective job
applicants listened intently as they learned first hand what they could
expect if they went to work for UPS.
Shields and Keisha Lee Cavil, UPS HR Manager, were the first job
recruiters to participate in a new program, the Oakland Citywide Youth
Jobs Initiative (OCYJI), designed to help local teenagers, especially
foster care youth, to successfully navigate the world of work.OCYJI
is based at PIC's Downtown One-Stop Center, 1212 Broadway.
The program utilizes PIC's
resources to develop jobs in key industries and make them available to
young people who live in Oakland, as well as to provide information and
support to Oakland employers to help them hire and retain young workers.
Through the program, there is support for young people, not only to
learn what it is like to work for companies like UPS but with help to
fill out an application and to prepare for and go to an interview.
Furthermore, the job opportunities are real. UPS is hiring over 50 part time drivers' helpers and package handlers. A number of the young people who were interviewed recently at the Career Center will receive job offers. (Ron Gervais, UPS Human Resources Manager, is pictured, helping teenagers as they fill out applications and are interviewed).
Staffing the program are two youth peer advisors, Kenya Holloman and
Ralph Hall, former foster care youth who are now in college.
They provide the young people with counseling, support and advice.
Free job readiness workshops are offered to
increase employment skills for teenagers, especially foster care youth, ages 16-24. For more
information, contact Robin Raveneau at
rraveneau@oaklandpic.org.
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PIC's Rapid Response Team Helps Employees Losing Jobs
300 Face Layoffs as Metro Furniture Closes
It was a recent Tuesday afternoon job fair, and nearly 100 dispirited
workers at an Oakland furniture
factory were trying to figure what comes next after their plant closes.
"I was laid off in August, but I'm here looking for jobs,"
said Jorge, with 10 years at the plant doing assembly and upholstery. "It was a
good job - we were very happy," he said. "I can't find anything that pays even
half of what we were getting. I have to
take care of my family, and I'm about to lose my house."
"I'm looking for a job - I haven't found anything yet, but
I'm optimistic," said Rita, who has worked at the factory for two years in
customer service. "It was a beautiful place to work, with a lot of diversity
and creativity."
"I have not found anything so far - I only speak a little
bit of English, and I'm looking for positions where I can speak Chinese," said
Deng Hang, an 11-year employee who works in furniture assembly.
The Tuesday event was the third and final job and resource
fair held for employees of Metro Furniture, 7220
Edgewater Drive. The company is a division of Steelcase, a manufacturer of high-end office
furniture.
After
nearly 100 years in the city, operations are shutting down in Oakland and Southern California
and relocating to plants in Tijuana and other parts of the U.S.
The fairs were organized by PIC's Rapid Response Team, providing up-to-date
information on job listings and industries that are hiring, as well as on unemployment
insurance, job training, COBRA, pension benefits and financial planning.
In addition to English, the primary languages spoken by Metro
workers are Spanish and Chinese. Therefore, team members provided information
in all three languages.
According to members of the team, the scene at Metro
Furniture is becoming increasingly common as California
unemployment climbed to 7.7 percent in August, reaching 10.5 percent in Oakland.
"It's really tough right now, but we appreciate the support
we are getting to help our people get jobs," said Leslie Bernard, a Human
Resources manager at Metro. "It helps people get through the process if they are
treated with dignity and respect."
"I'm losing my job," she said. "So, I'm in the same boat."
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Formerly Incarcerated Register to Vote
'Voting Rights for All' Holds Workshop at One-Stop Career Center
Kathy Kahn, an attorney for Voting Rights for All, held a workshop recently at PIC's One-Stop Career Center to explain that
people are eligible to vote while on probation or off parole.The workshop is part of PIC's ongoing efforts to help formerly incarcerated individuals to reenter the workforce.
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