FROM HERE TO THE…...…STREETS 2012 Revised Edition • The Value of Integrity • Goal Setting & Job Skills • Tips for Interviewing • Job Search Techniques • Apprenticeship Programs • Saving and Investing • Complete Credit Repair Guide • Setting & Maintaining a Budget • Understanding Insurance • Federal Bonding and Tax Credits • Special Section on Small Business & Entrepreneurship • Success Strategies for Ex-Offenders By: Joseph L. Chiappetta Jr. Special Thanks After nine years of writing, teaching, and creating programs as an incarcerated inmate, I’ve learned that any success I may have achieved in this venue is a direct result of the amazing social network that I’ve been blessed with. It all started with teachers like Dayleanne Wilson, Professor Richard Shelton, Sonia Vernon, Lisa Black, John Borquez, and Ms. Schmidt. The incredible wardens I’ve worked under have provided the necessary approvals. Without their support the programs could never have existed nor been utilized. Deputy Wardens like Ms. Simon, Mr. Curran, and Ms. Rider. In prison, security trumps everything. Security staff can torpedo a positive program as easily as the time it takes to voice, email, or telephone a single concern. In my experience, the majority of security officers were extremely helpful. Captain Iovino, Captain Higginson, Lt. Ping, Lt. Vance, and many others unlocked the doors and gave these programs a chance. Programs staff always worked side-by-side with me in these classes throughout their implementation and facilitation. Thanks to COIII Meitzer, COIII Holler, COIII Hook, COIII Felkins, COIII Grabowski, COIII Mayo, and even higher ranking staff like COIV Savinen and COIV Cottrell. Many sergeants and other uniformed staff have provided daily assistance. There are far too many to list. My amazing Licensed Substance Abuse Counselors, Colleen Fitzpatrick- Rogers and Jim Pitts, have fully supported my programs. Professor John Crosby and Professor Matt Wood of Central Arizona College provided guidance and support. And then there are my teammates. As a wise coach once said, “There’s no ‘I’ in the word TEAM. Other talented and proactive inmates have been my constant and daily support system in the trenches. My partner and adopted brother Troy Froehlich, and amazing friends like Dave Zorawski, Paul Sparks, Sam Roberts, Joshua Savage, John Zurawski, and Clifford Lacy. Super talented co-workers like Tommy Hunt, Gary Shepherd, Anthony Stearns, Andrew Cerny, Danny Almeida, Amidad Orduno, and many others. Finally, my amazing family…My parents, married 50 years and always supporting, assisting, and often rescuing me from the many crazy situations I’ve encountered. My beautiful wife, Jeanne…the most loving and generous soul I’ve ever met. Thank you all for making this possible. Joseph L. Chiappetta Jr. 2012 2 About This Book The corrections employee who inspired me to design this book knew what most of you reading this already know ... that the only hope that more than 90% of incarcerated inmates nationwide have for not returning to prison is steady employment. There are numerous books on this subject already and most of them say the same things. It’s also fair to say that most are accurate. This course doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel, so to speak, but instead gives a step-by-step guide for preparing and facilitating a Pre- Release Employability Class in a corrections environment. Prison inmates are, for the most part, challenged with a wide variety of social dysfunctions. Educational backgrounds vary as well. It is critical to make the Pre-Release Employability Class both user friendly and student specific for the challenges presented by the prison itself. Ultimately it’s up to an individual whether or not he or she chooses to succeed or improve the quality of their life. The key is to make this goal in life attainable and realistic to the students, thus encouraging them to make that choice. Remember that even the best plans in the world are nothing without good people to carry them out. If you’re planning to teach or assist in a Corrections Pre-Release Employability Course, you must understand and believe in its benefits. Not only believe, but also participate by sharing your own personal experiences and opinions to the extent that policy allows. Only by interacting with the class on a more personal level will you get the respect and trust of your students. By operating in this capacity you become as important an asset to the course as the written material itself. The results of your efforts will be reflected in the future success stories from your students. 3 A Message For Corrections Administrators, Staff, and Inmates If you are a Department of Corrections Supervisor, Administrator, Teacher, or an inmate doing self-study this type of book must look like quite a few others that you have seen or used. The major difference between this book and the rest is its origin. Its contents were created, facilitated, and developed by inmates under staff supervision, and successfully taught to over 1,000 inmates during a 9 year period in higher security corrections settings. Re-writing this course as an independent publication was the idea of the course’s primary facilitator, who also wrote the material into an instruction manual for his unit deputy warden. During the first 21 months that this course was taught, several former students that had been released wrote back to say that they had greatly benefited from this class. These previously incarcerated felons had found good paying jobs, decent housing, and a few had even repaired their credit and purchased houses using first time homeowner mortgage offers. In short, they used the information in this course and put their lives back on track. With that in mind, the author offers this material to you for use in your facility’s programs. Please write the publisher a letter if you found this course or its materials useful. Thank you. This is the revised 2012 version and is edited to meet copyright laws. Materials from sources are either open source, properly credited, or have written permissions. This new revision was completed in September 2012. Send Letters to: Joseph Chiappetta P.O. Box 24-3664 Boynton Beach, FL 33424 Or Email to: [email protected] Or Toll Free: 1-800-641-5964 4 From Here to the Streets Course Syllabus Lesson 1: Introduction Lesson 2: Goals Lesson 3: Skills Lesson 4: Job Research Lesson 5: Personal Information Cards Lesson 6: Resumes Lesson 7: Applications and Interviews Lesson 8: Interview Practice Lesson 9: Personal Credit and Understanding Insurance Lesson 10: Personal Finances, Setting Budgets, and Paying Taxes Lesson 11: Final Interviews Lesson 12: Reentry Lesson 13: Small Business Basics and Entrepreneurship Lesson 14: Final Lesson, Review of Entire Class, and Graduation 5 From Here to the Streets is an excellent self-study resource, but it is written as a manual for a course. Who Should Teach/Facilitate This Course? Anyone planning to teach or facilitate this course must have at least 3 (three) of the below listed: Skills and Experience: 1. Professional Teaching Certificate or Degree 2. Previous Experience Teaching Similar Materials 3. Previous or Current Small Business Ownership 4. Successful Management Experience 5. Public Speaking Experience 6. Possess Steady Employment Experience Teachers should choose inmate facilitators and teacher’s aides who complement their own teaching style. The combined experience of the teacher and aides should include all of the above qualifications. Inmate Peer Mentors and Peer Educators are the best candidates. 6 Tips for Lessons 1. You are the teacher/facilitator. Rely on your own unique skills and experiences to make each lesson interesting and informative. 2. Rely on your student profile / initial assessments to determine the “tone” of each lesson. The introduction phase provides you with this information. 3. Keep things “flowing”...move from lecture to participation frequently throughout each lesson. Be sure to pause during the lecture to allow participation frequently throughout each lesson. Pause during the lecture to ask group questions that require a show of hands. This keeps the interest level high and makes the lesson more enjoyable. Positive energy within the group will remain higher if you do this. 4. Only use the lesson outline as a guide. Form your own version of each lesson that utilizes the materials provided plus any new or updated information that you bring in. 5. Be prepared. In a corrections setting the students are from a wide variety of backgrounds and are very intuitive. Make sure that you know all of the details of whatever you discuss and be prepared for pointed and intelligent questions. 6. Integrating materials. Every facility has its own pre-release and employability programs and materials. This book and its contents can be used to either supplement existing programs or provide an alternate approach. The cornerstone of this course is its flexibility. Providing useful information is the ultimate goal. From a variety of forms and exercises to the sample documents and study materials, any program will find something it can use or integrate into its lessons. Many other course books try to encourage replacement rather than collaboration. This material is designed to be used in any way the program facilitator chooses…dissected into parts or as a stand-alone program. 7 From Here to the Streets Transition/Reentry Class DO YOU HAVE WHAT YOU NEED TO RE-START YOUR LIFE? DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT TAKES TO GET A JOB? HAVE YOU EVER DONE A RESUME? WHAT ABOUT AN INTERVIEW? These are some of the questions that this class will be able to assist you with. Learn How To: • Write A Resume • Conduct Yourself In An Interview • Answer Tough Interview Questions • Interview Practice / Actual Interview • Fill Out Up-To-Date Applications • Job Search Methods • Set A Budget • Understand Your Credit • Understand Mortgages & Home Purchases • Using The Federal Bonding Program SIGN UP NOW! 9 If you are interested in this class, please sign the Sign Up Sheet.