Welcome to webinar number 4 in the Promoting Employment for Homeless Veterans series of presentations, brought to you by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service, the National Veterans’ Training Institute, or NVTI, and the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.The information in this program can benefit anyone working with homeless veterans, especially Disabled Veterans Outreach Program Specialists assigned to an American Job Center.

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If you are not a Disabled Veterans Outreach Program Specialist, we encourage you to connect with one. You can locate your nearest American Job Center at the CareerOneStop website (at www.careeronestop.org/localhelp/americanjobcenters/find-american-job-centers.aspx)

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Homeless veterans who have been incarcerated may be some of the most challenging clients we assist. In this webinar, we’ll be looking at several of the barriers to employment they face, and at the strategies and resources we and our clients can use to address those barriers.

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Finding and keeping a good job is a central element in the quest to achieve reintegration in a community after release from a correctional facility. In addition to enabling clients to afford food, clothes, shelter, transportation, and the other essentials needed to become self-sufficient, a steady job promotes a sense a self-efficacy and a confidence that they can support themselves without resorting to criminal activities.

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The right job and the right workplace can also provide clients with a new set of relationships with non-offenders and a new social support system, both of which are protective factors that reduce the likelihood of committing additional crimes.

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You may want to stop this video at this point and download the Barrier Checklist by clicking through the Resources link on the Webinar homepage, print it, and refer to it throughout this presentation.

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We’ll start by meeting Karl, who learned about our American Job Center, or AJC, while developing his re-entry plan at a nearby state prison. He was released earlier this week, and at the urging of his parole office, he visited our office today.

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Karl doesn’t remember too much about the incident one night that led to his assault conviction, and admits that he had begun to drink heavily and was getting into frequent fights in bars or when he was around the group of people he had fallen in with.

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He spent nearly three years behind bars, and before that he alternated between drawing unemployment and working as a construction laborer.

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Prior to that, he had left the Army with a general discharge several months before his three-year enlistment was scheduled to end. When we asked about his military experience, Karl shrugged, said that he had been in the infantry, and added that when he was arrested, he had been seeing a counselor to work on some issues.

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The most recent detailed data on incarcerated veterans we have was gathered in 2004, and much has happened since then, including the significant drawdowns of the military as combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan were scaled back. Nevertheless, although there will always be exceptions to any assumptions we make, we can make some broad generalizations about our veteran clients who are ex-offenders.

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Karl is a little younger than the typical incarcerated veteran in 2004, but he faces many of the challenges confronting ex-offenders.

First, there’s a good chance that formerly incarcerated clients may be struggling to find reliable shelter and contending with mental health issues, troublesome health conditions, and substance use. We discuss resources and approaches for addressing these challenges in webinar 3, and we encourage you to view it and explore the Resource links, if you haven’t already done so.

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Homeless ex-offenders are also likely to have difficulty arranging for reliable or affordable transportation, and we discuss ways to help them overcome thisbarrier and transportation-related resources in Webinar 2.

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There’s also a good chance homeless ex-offenders will have to deal with: Legal and administrative issues The need to address the key concerns employers may have about hiring someone with a criminal record, and The need to psychologically transition from prison to a workplace and a neighborhood

These are the three issues we’ll focus on in this webinar.

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A side note: If you’ve downloaded the Barrier’s Checklist, you’ll note that it includes all of the issues we’ve covered thus far in this webinar series.

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Legal and administrative issues

Depending on how comprehensive the pre-release program in their prison or jail was, some ex-offenders may need assistance acquiring drivers’ licenses or state identification cards, social security cards, other forms of identification, and proof of their veteran status.

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Ex-offenders may not be eligible for some federal or state safety net programs, depending on their conviction and the state they live in.

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If they were drawing benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs prior to their incarceration, they may be able to restart their VA benefits. The same applies to Social Security Administration benefits, and some veterans may have been receiving both of these benefits before their incarceration.

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Recently incarcerated clients may be subject to community supervision or parole, with requirements to check-in with their parole officer on a routine basis and observe curfew or travel restrictions. These can interfere with a client’s ability to work during certain shifts or to pursue promising employment opportunities across state lines.

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Another factor complicating our clients’ job searches: depending on the crime for which they were convicted, ex-offenders may be barred from employment in a variety of workplaces, including casinos, banks or financial institutions, security firms, home health care agencies, day care centers, or schools.

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The employment, residency, and travel restrictions placed on registered sex offenders can be especially complicated and challenging. We’ve included links to several documents from the Center for Sex Offender Management on our resource page. These documents provide a more detailed look at the restrictions and challenges that your clients might face, and strategies for adapting to these issues.

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Finally, some states allow ex-offenders to request that conviction records for certain types of offenses be expunged or sealed. Your state may also provide a process by which clients can seek to obtain certificates of rehabilitation, which can improve their odds when applying for jobs.

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Job Search Barriers

One of the central tasks facing formerly incarcerated clients is to anticipate and understand concerns that prospective employers may have about their ex-offender status and address those concerns. They should not head for a job interview until they feel comfortable and confident answering the conviction-related questions employers may ask.

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A redemption statement, incorporating the three R’s – Responsibility, Regret, and Redemption – is one way to address employers’ concerns.

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In the Responsibility portion of the statement, the client takes ownership for past actions.

For example:“When I was younger, I made a bad decision.”

“I made some poor choices in the past.” “A few years ago I did some things I should not have done.”

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In the Regret portion, the client briefly expresses regret for past actions and the damage or hurt the actions caused others.

For example: “I’m not proud of the things I did back then.”

“I’m sorry for the hurt I caused others.”“I wish I had been more mature and responsible.” “I realize now my priorities and actions were wrong.”

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And Redemption: Since employers will be hiring the person the client is now and will be in the future, rather than the person the client used to be, clients should stress what they have learned or gained from the experience of incarceration, how they have changed and turned their lives around, and their goals and their desire to do their best going forward

Some examples of what clients may have gained while behind bars: Education, training, or certifications Occupational skills they learned from assigned jobs or responsibilities An appreciation for the value of work An increased respect for authority and a greater willingness to abide by rulesIncreased self-disciplineA clearer understanding of their strengths, greater recognition of their shortcomings, and a greater willingness and ability to change problematic behaviorsIncreased resiliency and a stronger capability to deal with stressful or difficult situationsMore patience when faced with problems or frustrating situations A greater ability to get along with a wide variety of people

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Finally they can describe their goals for the future.

For example: “I have a strong desire to make up for lost time by working hard

and succeeding in my next job.”“The time I spent in jail helped me understand what’s important in

life, and I’m determined to do my best going forward and never make those mistakes again.”

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We’ve also included links on the Resource page to several other documents from reentry programs around the country that provide excellent examples of redemption statements, conviction letters, and suggested phrases for describing past crimes, as well as guidelines for questions about convictions on application forms.

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Reality checks

Depending on the skills they possess, their work history, and the nature of their convictions, it may be important to have conversations with clients about the job market they’re entering.

Some ex-offenders will find that most or all of the positions open to them involve low-skill work and low pay. When this is the case with our clients, we need to help them understand that they may have to start building a new career trajectory from scratch.

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We can encourage them to see these jobs as stepping stones to better jobs, and opportunities to acquire more skills, to develop a work track record, and to expand their personal networks.

We’ll discuss the concept of stair step jobs in greater detail in Webinar 7.

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All things being equal, it makes sense for clients to target the employers who are open to hiring ex-offenders, and LVERs or AJC employer outreach staff can help identify these companies.

Here are some questions outreach staff can ask when meeting hiring decision makers: Do you do background checks? If so, what do you check for? Do you ask applicants about felony or misdemeanor convictions? Do you have any legal restrictions on hiring people convicted of crimes? Are there any specific crimes (such as theft or sex crimes) that would disqualify an applicant?

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The mere fact that employers conduct background checks does notautomatically mean they will not hire an ex-offender. Some employers, for example, may be concerned about felonies or crimes involving theft, but not misdemeanors or civil offenses.

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A side note: the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has issued guidance for employers related to using arrest and conviction information when making hiring decisions. In no way are we suggesting that your job is to advise employers about the legal rights of your clients, but you might want to share the link to the EEOC guidance we have posted on our resource page with your clients, so they will better understand their employment rights.

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In general, employers are more likely to hire ex-offenders if they • Are small and are run by the owner • Have a diverse work force• Experience high turnover • Hire mostly unskilled workers• Use temporary agencies

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Very small businesses may be especially interested in Work Opportunity Tax Credits and the Federal Bonding Program, which we’ll discuss in more detail in Webinar 7.

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Psychological transition

Depending on their work history before they were incarcerated, the length of time they were in prison or jail, and their experience and mindset while inside prison, ex-offenders may need to adjust their attitudes, their planning and decision making processes, and their modes of communicating and interacting with others. Some of the habits and beliefs that may have been entirely appropriate, and even necessary, while they were incarcerated can interfere with their ability to thrive on the outside and in the workplace.

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Connecting clients with ex-offender support groups can assist them with this transition process and provide them with new points of reference. Local parole officers are likely to know about the non-profit agencies and faith-based groups that sponsor these programs, and about options for individual counseling.

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We can have conversations about our clients’ experiences in boot camp or basic training, draw analogies with the psychological transitions they had to make after enlisting in the military, and remind them that they have successfully navigated a similar transition process in the past.

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The Grow It model we introduced in Webinar 2 and the Barrier Checklist are designed to support the psychological transition by encouraging clients to take progressively more responsibility and initiative as they become more confident in their ability to progress toward their goals, and more knowledgeable about the strategies and resources they can utilize to move forward.

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These tools provide clients with a structured way to reflect on past successes, to consider the kind of life they want to live, to establish goals that will move them in that direction, to candidly assess their current reality, to identify and evaluate their options for moving forward, to select the options that seem most viable for them, and to make, implement, and revise action plans.

Let’s see how Karl uses the GROW IT model as a job aid to move forward.

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Goals

When we ask him to think about his long-range goals and big-picture aspirations, here are two he comes up with:Put the past behind me, get a fresh start, and make up for lost time Have a normal life, get a place of my own to live, have a girlfriend, maybe get married someday

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Then we encourage him to think about shorter term goals that would contribute to his long- range goals. We also explain that using the SMART acronym—standing for Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Realistic, and Time-bound—helps us develop more practical and tangible goals.

These are a few of the shorter term goals Karl writes down:

Within two weeks, ride the entire length of the two bus routes on the west side of town and make a list of the businesses I pass that I’ll visit, drop off my resume, and ask if they might be hiring in the coming month.

Get my drivers’ license reinstated by the end of the month.

Attend a meeting at the four local VFW and American Legion posts this month to get a feel for whether I’d like to join them, to learn about the assistance they might be able to provide me, and to let them know that I’m looking for a job.

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Reality

Next, we and Karl work through the Reality-related questions in the GROW IT Guide. Here are a few of the assets, strengths, and challenges he identifies.

Before he left prison, Karl and his counselor developed a Re-entry Plan. He still hasn’t contacted a half dozen agencies the prison counselor identified that might be able to provide assistance with his needs, including two shelters in addition to the one he has been living in since his release.

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He worked for 24 months in the prison woodwork shop, which made and refurbished office furniture for state government offices. He discovered that he really enjoyed working with his hands, and when he was doing that, he could feel the anger and stress inside of him evaporating.

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In one of our meetings with him, Karl proudly showed us photos of book cases and tables he designed and made for the prison library.

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On the down side, he’s made friends with several of the residents at his shelter, and they have been more than willing to share their bottle whenever somebody saves enough money to purchase one in a nearby liquor store. Karl says he feels good, too good, after he takes a half dozen pulls on the bottle.

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Options

Thanks to the research we did when we identified agencies and programs that offer assistance for the tasks listed on the Barriers Checklist, we are able to share a number of options that were not in Karl’s Reentry Plan, and discuss which of those options are worthwhile pursuing.

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We and Karl also brainstorm ways to neutralize the temptation to have a friendly drink or two or five with his new companions at the shelter. A quick computer search produces the address of an Alano Club within walking distance of the shelter, with Alcoholics Anonymous meetings throughout the day. Karl does not consider himself an alcoholic, but he thinks it might be better to hang out at the club than with his companions in his free time.

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Another side note: In webinar 3, we discussed how to provide a warm handoff when referring a client to a program or resource. Warm handoffs are always preferable to simply handing clients a phone number or address and expecting them to carry the ball on their own.

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The Way Forward, or the Plan

Like many ex-offenders, Karl needs to become very good at managing time and juggling competing priorities and commitments.

Using the Barrier Checklist, along with the Planning Worksheet and Weekly Planner available for download on the Resource page, we can help clients develop plans for completing the tasks that will bring them closer to their employment goals.

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In Karl’s case, these tasks include:

Preparing for his job search, by revising his resume and developing a redemption statement

Satisfying his community supervision requirements, including meetings with his parole officer and mandatory drug testing

Carving out time for meeting with his support group

Taking advantage of other resources and programs that are helping him deal with other challenges he faces

Avoiding situations, people, or triggers that could lead him to engage in behaviors that would undo the progress he has made thus far

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When he gets a job, we can help Karl update and expand his plan to include the steps he can take to ensure he arrives at work on time every day.

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Karl’s first efforts to find a job that matches his skills and interests are disappointing and frustrating, and he is dismayed at how little the available jobs pay.

We also notice that Karl is not following up on job leads we have given him, and after asking opened ended questions and listening carefully, we sense that the reason behind his excuses for not showing up for interviews is that he still isn’t comfortable or confident talking about his conviction in job interviews.

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So we meet with our AJC colleagues who know several small business owners willing to conduct mock interviews with Karl, using a list of the most difficult and potentially embarrassing conviction-related questions an employer might ask.

When we explain that the mock interviews will be risk-free practice sessions, Karl agrees to give them a try. These practice interviews boost Karl’s confidence and ability to address employers’ concerns, and he follows through with the next three job leads we give him.

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Meanwhile, the LVER and AJC outreach staff locate a small business specializing in producing custom cabinets and other furniture, and they meet with the owner several times to explore the possibility that Karl could contribute to the business’s success.

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The owner acknowledges that since high school vocational education programs have all but disappeared, it has become nearly impossible to find anyone with a talent for his line of work. But he is worried that an ex-felon might cause problems with coworkers or customers, and the very last thing the owner wants or needs is more hassles and headaches.

Because Karl has not yet established a post-prison work track record, the employer outreach staff are reluctant to recommend that the owner hire Karl.

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Karl soon secures a job sorting items at a recycling center. It pays minimum wage and his schedule is for only 22 hours a week, but it is an easy bus ride from the short-term transitional housing run by a local non-profit agency we have connected Karl with.

We encourage Karl to view this position as a stair step job, a way to develop a work track record, meet his parole requirements, and generate some income. We also promise to keep in touch and to let him know if we learn of better jobs.

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After six weeks of perfect work attendance and positive reports from his supervisor when we make follow up calls, Karl stops by our office and confides that several of his co-workers are sneaking in a drink or two and popping pills during breaks, in an effort to make it through their shift.

Thus far, Karl has declined their offers, knowing he might fail the periodic drug tests his parole officer schedules, but he isn’t sure how much longer he can stay clean. Thanks to his attendance record and diligence on the job, he is now scheduled for 35 hours a week, but he still isn’t earning enough to afford rent for a place of his own, and the deadline for moving out the transitional shelter is fast approaching

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Impressed with Karl’s attendance record and his supervisor’s feedback, our employer outreach colleagues agree to arrange an informal interview between Karl and the owner of the custom woodworking business.

To give his confidence a booster shot, we hold several more mock interviews with Karl before he meets with the owner.

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The owner is sufficiently impressed that he agrees to hire Karl on a provisional basis.

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After two months on the job, Karl has saved enough money to cover the first and last month’s rent and security deposit on an apartment closer to work, and is on his way to a new life.

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Now let’s take a quick look at some of the websites and guides we’ve linked to on our Resource page.

The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans’ booklet, Planning for Your Release: A Guide for Incarcerated Veterans, provides an overview of programs that can assist clients gain traction in the first several months after they’ve left prison.

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The Council of State Governments’ National Reentry Resource Center has links to Reentry Service Directories for each state and some larger cities that can connect ex-offenders and their families with services.

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We’ve also included the U.S. Department of Justice Access To Justice Initiative Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable Toolkit that provides an overview how free or low-cost civil legal aid programs , or legal assistance for matters that do not involve criminal charges, can help homeless or those at risk of becoming homeless deal with many of the legal challenges we’ve mentioned in this webinar.

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To help us locate free or low-cost legal assistance for our clients, we’ve included a link to the search page of the Legal Services Corporation. We can search by state, city or zip code for nearby programs.

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The American Bar Association’s Commission on Homelessness and Poverty has organized a Coordinating Committee on Veterans Benefits & Services, and committee’s web page also allows us to locate free- or low-cost legal assistance with disability benefits, reemployment rights, consumer, housing, criminal & family law matters, and obtaining legal counsel.

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The National Inventory of the Collateral Consequences of Conviction, also hosted by the American Bar Association, allows users to determine what, if any, restrictions on employment or licensing each state has imposed on those who have been convicted of specific crimes.

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Finally, several more resources from the U.S Department of Veterans Affairs, The VA’s Health Care for Re-entry Veterans (or HCRV) Program provides referrals to medical, psychiatric, and social services, including employment services upon release, as well as short-term case management assistance. We have a link to a list of HCRV Specialists in each state.

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The VA also has a list of downloadable Incarcerated Veterans Re-entry Guides for each state. These guides provide information on restarting VA benefits, as well as brief descriptions and contact information for supportive service providers who can assist ex-offenders with housing, employment, mental health, substance use treatment and counseling, and financial and legal issues.

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We also have a link to the VA’s Accreditation page. If you scroll to the bottom of the page, you can download lists of Accredited Attorneys, Claim Agents , and representatives at Veteran Service Organizations who can assist clients with claims assistance.

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We’d like to close this webinar by explaining how you can submit questions you may have.

If you scroll down the web page in which you’re watching this presentation, you’ll see a link labeled Questions and Answers. By clicking on the link, you’ll be able to submit a question about anything we’ve covered today, or about issues related to homeless veterans that you’d like us to address in upcoming webinars.

We will research the answer to your question and post it on the Questions and Answers page as quickly as possible

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In the meantime, be on the lookout for an email from the National Veterans Training Institute alerting you to the release of Webinar Number 5, in which we will discuss strategies for engaging employers and identifying employment opportunities within their organizations.

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