Employment Readiness Program

Program Overview

  • This program has an in-jail portion and a community portion where participants can seamlessly transition from one to the other. The program is for offenders who are unemployed or underemployed, seeking skills necessary to receive job/vocational training, and want to enter/ re-enter the labor market.
  • The in-jail portion of the program is held five days a week, for one week, for 2.5 hours each day. It runs bi-weekly at the main jail and the dormitory facility. The focus is on resume writing, successful interview techniques, cover letters and follow-ups, budgeting/financial responsibilities, removal of barriers to employment, and completion of a master application.
  • Upon successful completion, most inmates are eligible for a maximum 5-day incarceration reduction.
  • The community portion of the program is facilitated at the Employment and Training Department. Participants work one-on-one with a Career Development Facilitator (CDF) and are provided with case management, assistance with computers and online applications, employee retention strategies, and job searches.
  • Participants are required to attend Employment Readiness Workshops until hired, held weekly on Wednesdays.

Eligibility Criteria

Participants must:

  1. Score moderate to high on the scale of the educational/vocational needs, or score moderate to high on the risk scales
    • An offender with a low vocational/education needs score must have their lack of employment or under-employment verified and documented by Adult Probation and Parole through the use of the Employment Status Verification Form (PDF).
  2. Be under or unemployed without warrants or holds

Resources