For almost a year now, Moses has been working as a sales representative for a car dealership in Los Angeles.
The young man from 24 years assured that the help he received after leaving prison was vital to his current job success.
Moses, a Latino man who asked not to reveal his last name, said that in 2019 he was attending Cal State Long Beach University when he involved in problems that led to him serving a three-month sentence.
While behind bars, he was offered the opportunity to participate in a program to reintegrate into society when it was his turn get out on parole. However, confident that he would never get into trouble again, he declined the offer.
“When I got out of jail I didn’t go back to college and I thought my future would be to work at McDonald’s, “he said.
” My probation officer told me that he could help me but I thought: ‘Who wants to help a problem person like me?’ ”
Shortly after being free, Moses again returned to jail. On this second occasion, it was already for a period of six months.
“When I was there that second time, it was different … So I was interested in participating in the program” said Moses.
The program he refers to is INVEST, which offers resources to probationers in Los Angeles County to get them training or employment.
Participants are offered a variety of employment services tailored to each individual’s needs that may include: career planning, transitional subsidized employment, on-the-job training, job shadowing , vocational training, continuing education, career path employment assistance, and job retention supports.
Irene Pelayo, Los County Workforce Program Director Angeles, said the program is an association of probation officers (probation offic ers) and the America’s Job Center of California (AJCC).
And he added that the officers are located in the work centers directly advising the participants.
Employment: a key point to return to society
Pelayo explained that when incarcerated people are about to leave, the court tells them what kind of freedom they will have. Sometimes it is full release or parole.
If released on parole they are encouraged to participate in the INVEST program.
“We serve about 1, 000 people a year and we already have 10 operations throughout the county, ”he indicated.
Near 60% of program participants have between 18 to 35 year old; 75% of them are men.
Various studies have shown the importance of employment , not only to avoid recidivism, but also so that the people involved in the judicial system can guarantee their success when re-entering the community.
INVEST helps them to become productive members of their families and communities by providing a comprehensive and coordinated set of interventions in three county systems: Workforce Development, Probation, and Health Services.
Before With the implementation of INVEST, probationers were able to connect to a workplace.
However, once they got there, there were no expert probation officers available.
At the same time, workplaces were not aware of the challenges faced by people on probation in obtaining employment or new jobs.
Now, INVEST is a kind of nexus that offers development resources to enter the workforce and at the same time, they are available in the AJCC work centers, of the Los Angeles County Department of Workforce Development, Aging and Community Services (WDACS).
Types of jobs
Pelayo said that once the person on probation begins his search in one of the AJCC centers, he receives counseling so that he knows what he would like to work on.
” So it all depends, there are many men who want to dedicate themselves to construction because it is well paid and there is a pre-apprenticeship program … Everything varies “, he indicated.
” We explained that this job [en construcción] can pay you a lot of money at the moment but it could affect your body a lot, especially if you are of legal age. So we try to expose them to different fields, “he added.
To carry out this experience, the evaluations offer them opportunities to learn about jobs with paid hours.
“Let’s say, a few 800 hours, we will put you to work on something to see if you like it or to see if it is good and we will pay the salary, “said Pelayo.
If the employer shows interest in the participant, hires him full time or if the employee does not like his job, they put him in another work and start over.
“That’s the tool we use to try to get them to work on a variety of jobs with the goal of finding what they like best,” he explained .
Moses said that he had the experience of working for UPS and did not like it.
“And sometimes he tried to give me for defeated but the good thing is that the officers come and give you a push again so that you do not stop, “he said.
He continued searching Not what he expected, an office job where he could wear a tie without doing so much physical work. Thus, he found a job at the car dealership where he says he enjoys his job very much.
The INVEST program is a collaboration between WDACS and the Department of Probation and the Office of Diversion from the Department of Health Services.
To learn more about the INVEST program visit; https://investprogram.net/wdacs
For more information about AJCC visit workforce.lacounty.gov or call (888) 226 – 6300.