How does Second Chance Jobs provide opportunities for ex-offenders and others seeking career changes. What impact has this nonprofit had on the workforce and local communities. Why are trade jobs becoming increasingly important in today’s economy.
The Origins of Second Chance Jobs: From Prison Cell to Nonprofit Success
Second Chance Jobs, a nonprofit organization founded by Colin Slaven and Debbie Reese, has emerged as a beacon of hope for individuals seeking viable career opportunities in the trade industry. The genesis of this transformative initiative can be traced back to an unlikely place – a detention center in Europe.
Colin Slaven, the Executive Director of Second Chance Job Center, crafted the business plan for this organization during his 18-month incarceration. His firsthand experience as an ex-offender provided unique insights into the challenges faced by individuals with criminal records when seeking employment upon release.
The Cycle of Recidivism: A Catalyst for Change
During his time behind bars, Slaven observed a disturbing pattern: many nonviolent offenders, unable to secure legitimate employment due to their criminal records, often resorted to illegal activities to support themselves and their families. This cycle of recidivism became the driving force behind Second Chance Jobs’ mission.
Debbie Reese, who serves as the nonprofit’s Executive Director, explains the core issue: “Having ‘ex-offender’ on the record means it’s going to be very, very hard for them to find employment.” This realization prompted Slaven and Reese to create a program that would provide ex-offenders with the skills and certifications necessary to secure well-paying jobs in the trade industry.
Bridging the Skills Gap: The Trade Industry’s Urgent Need for Skilled Workers
Second Chance Jobs addresses a critical need in the workforce by focusing on trade industries that are severely understaffed. According to Reese, “Trade jobs are an excellent source of income. They’re in high demand, they’re over 70 percent understaffed, so it’s an excellent program.”
This skills gap presents a unique opportunity for both job seekers and employers. By providing training and certification in trades such as construction, welding, and carpentry, Second Chance Jobs is helping to fill a crucial void in the labor market.
The Evolution of Second Chance Jobs: Beyond Ex-Offenders
While the initial focus of Second Chance Jobs was on helping ex-offenders, the program has since expanded its reach to benefit a diverse range of individuals seeking career changes or new opportunities. Today, ex-offenders make up only 10 percent of the organization’s workforce.
The program now caters to:
- Veterans transitioning to civilian life
- Individuals looking to leave the food and beverage industry
- Stay-at-home mothers re-entering the workforce
- People affected by life changes such as divorce or layoffs
- Recent graduates seeking alternatives to traditional four-year college degrees
The PACT Program: A Pathway to Success in the Trade Industry
At the heart of Second Chance Jobs’ mission is the PACT Program, a 16-week apprenticeship certified by the Department of Labor. This comprehensive training initiative combines cognitive and skills training with hands-on experience at local trade businesses.
Key Components of the PACT Program
- Classroom instruction on trade-specific skills and knowledge
- Cognitive training to develop problem-solving and critical thinking abilities
- Hands-on training with partnering local businesses
- Certification upon completion, recognized by the Department of Labor
Upon completing the PACT Program, participants have the option to pursue more advanced apprenticeships, which can lead to higher earning potential, or seek immediate employment through Second Chance Jobs’ network of partnering businesses.
The Economic Impact: Creating Sustainable Careers and Community Growth
Second Chance Jobs is making a significant impact on both individual lives and local economies. By providing access to well-paying trade jobs, the program is helping to lift people out of poverty and reduce reliance on government subsidies.
Breaking the Cycle of Low-Wage Employment
Aiken city councilwoman Lessie Price emphasizes the program’s potential to create lasting change: “It does provide an opportunity for lots of individuals, and this is also an opportunity for them to earn a living wage, not minimum wage. So that stops the whole pattern of folks having to work two and three jobs and have no time for themselves.”
This shift from minimum wage jobs to skilled trade careers has far-reaching implications for individual financial stability and community economic growth.
Challenging the College-Centric Mindset: Rethinking Career Paths
Second Chance Jobs is also playing a crucial role in challenging the prevailing notion that a four-year college degree is the only path to a successful career. Debbie Reese points out a concerning trend: “It’s a mentality drilled into kids that they go to college and get a four-year degree, and when some get out, they can’t find a career in their field, and they’re sitting on $100,000 of student debt.”
By promoting trade apprenticeships as a viable alternative, Second Chance Jobs offers a debt-free path to a well-paying career. Reese notes that those who choose this route can often achieve financial stability much faster than their college-educated peers: “In the time their friends have gone into college and spent at least $100,000 for four years, they have made well over that, can probably buy a house, have a car, and are just going to go up.”
Expanding Reach: Second Chance Jobs’ Growth and Partnerships
Since its inception, Second Chance Jobs has experienced remarkable growth, expanding from its home base in Charleston throughout South Carolina and into other states. This expansion has been facilitated by strategic partnerships with local businesses and community leaders.
The Aiken Success Story
The launch of Second Chance Jobs in Aiken, South Carolina, serves as a prime example of the organization’s collaborative approach and rapid impact. Within just six months of establishing a presence in the city, Second Chance Jobs has forged partnerships with several local businesses, including Mr. Central Heating and Air Conditioning and Absolute Green Insulation.
Colin Slaven describes the support in Aiken as “divine intervention,” highlighting the unprecedented level of community engagement and synergy the program has experienced in the city.
Pioneering Apprenticeship Management: A Unique Approach
Second Chance Jobs has achieved a significant milestone in workforce development. According to Slaven, the organization is the first “entity” in the United States to be approved to manage, operate, and facilitate apprenticeships for local businesses.
This unique position allows Second Chance Jobs to serve as a bridge between job seekers and employers, ensuring that training programs are tailored to meet the specific needs of local industries while providing participants with nationally recognized certifications.
The Benefits of Localized Apprenticeship Management
- Customized training programs aligned with local industry needs
- Streamlined process for businesses to participate in apprenticeship programs
- Increased accountability and quality control in apprenticeship delivery
- Enhanced collaboration between educational institutions and local businesses
The Future of Work: Second Chance Jobs’ Role in Shaping the Workforce
As the demand for skilled trade workers continues to grow, Second Chance Jobs is poised to play an increasingly important role in shaping the future of work. By addressing the skills gap in trade industries and providing opportunities for diverse groups of job seekers, the organization is contributing to a more resilient and adaptable workforce.
Addressing the Decline of Vocational Education
Debbie Reese points out a concerning trend in education: “The shops, the things where they would build and do carpentry, they’re out of the schools now.” This decline in vocational education has contributed to the current shortage of skilled trade workers.
Second Chance Jobs is stepping in to fill this gap, providing the hands-on training and apprenticeship opportunities that were once a standard part of many high school curricula.
Creating a More Inclusive Workforce
By focusing on underserved populations and individuals facing barriers to employment, Second Chance Jobs is helping to create a more diverse and inclusive workforce. This approach not only benefits the individuals who receive training and job placement but also enriches the trade industries with a broader range of perspectives and experiences.
As the organization continues to expand its reach and refine its programs, it has the potential to significantly impact workforce development strategies across the United States. The success of Second Chance Jobs serves as a model for how targeted training programs and strategic partnerships can address critical labor shortages while providing life-changing opportunities for individuals seeking a fresh start or a new career path.
‘Divine intervention’: nonprofit gives local workers a second chance
Kristina RackleyApril 20, 2019 GMT
Colin Slaven and Debbie Reese brought Second Chance Jobs, a nonprofit that trains employees for trade industry careers, to Aiken about six months ago.
“Trade jobs are an excellent source of income,” said Reese, who serves as the nonprofit’s Executive Director. “They’re in high demand, they’re over 70 percent understaffed, so it’s an excellent program.”
Today, Second Chance Jobs has expanded from its home base in Charleston throughout South Carolina and into other states. They partner with many businesses at the local level to get people searching for viable careers certified and placed in trade jobs like construction, welding, and carpentry.
Second Chance Jobs has been involved significantly since its inception in a detention center in Europe, where Colin Slaven, the Executive Director of Second Chance Job Center, wrote the business plan from inside a cell.
“I’m an ex-offender myself,” Slaven said. “I wrote this business plan when I was incarcerated for 18 months … 18 months seems like a long time, but some of these guys have been down for 10-20 years.”
During his time as an inmate, Slaven witnessed a disturbing cycle of recidivism, in which some inmates who committed a nonviolent crime were unable to find legitimate work due to their criminal record, and resorted to illegal activities to pay their bills and support their families.
“Upon re-entry, the biggest problem for them is having ‘ex-offender’ on the record,” Reese said. “Having that means it’s going to be very, very hard for them to find employment.”
Slaven wanted to provide an opportunity for those inmates to leave criminal activities behind by providing them with viable jobs in the trade industry.
“They’re all hurting in the industry,” Slaven said ”…What’s happening is they’re going to the employment agencies and they can’t find the skilled workers, because they’re nonexistent.
”
By getting nonviolent ex-offenders certified in the trade industry, Slaven realized he could help fill a gap in the workforce while keeping incarceration and crime rates down. The program was called Inmate Care.
The program evolved into Second Chance Jobs when Slaven and Reese realized it could benefit far more than just ex-offenders.
“The shops, the things where they would build and do carpentry, they’re out of the schools now,” Reese said. ”…It’s a mentality drilled into kids that they go to college and get a four year degree, and when some get out, they can’t find a career in their field, and they’re sitting on $100,000 of student debt.”
Reese said many of those students could complete an apprenticeship in a trade job debt-free.
“In the time their friends have gone into college and spent at least $100,000 for four years, they have made well over that, can probably buy a house, have a car, and are just going to go up,” Reese said.
Other people who benefit from the Second Chance Jobs programs are veterans, people who want out of the food and beverage industry, stay-at-home mothers, and others who have gone through life changes like divorce or layoffs.
The program has become so expansive that ex-offenders only make up 10 percent of the group’s workforce. In Aiken, Second Chance Jobs has started partnerships with several local businesses like Mr. Central Heating and Air Conditioning and Absolute Green Insulation.
“What’s even more exciting about Aiken as a city…when I say divine intervention, when I say the support and synergy is unheard of, (it is),” Slaven said.
Slaven also said Second Chance Jobs is the first “entity” in the United States that has been approved to manage, operate, and facilitate apprenticeships for local businesses.
Many community leaders and businesses came together quickly to launch Second Chance Jobs in Aiken.
Aiken city councilwoman Lessie Price said the program will help get people “income-sufficient” and off subsidies, while spreading wealth and support to their local communities.
“It does provide an opportunity for lots of individuals, and this is also an opportunity for them to earn a living wage, not minimum wage,” Price said.
“So that stops the whole pattern of folks having to work two and three jobs and have no time for themselves…often times people need a fresh start, and this is an opportunity for someone to get fresh start. Not just a job, but a career.”
Second Chance Jobs gives applicants a 16-week apprenticeship called the Pact Program that is certified by the Department of Labor. During that time, applicants receive cognitive and skills training with the nonprofit and hands-on training with local trade businesses.
Once they complete the program, they can chose to complete more advanced apprenticeships which, like a degree, will allow them to earn more money, or the nonprofit will help place them in jobs with their business partners.
To learn more about Second Chance Jobs, visit secondchancejobs.org.
Second Chances: Efforts Underway To Hire Ex-Offenders
In May 2012, Colin Slaven was in what he called “the worst time of my life” after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud for his part in an $800,000 auto loan scheme.
About six months into his 21-month sentence, British-born Slaven found himself flailing in a South Carolina federal correctional facility that was as alien to him as the dark side of the moon.
Then, he had a revelation.
“God put me here for a reason, and it gave me a lot of time to reflect,” he said. “I didn’t even know what recidivism meant. So I started talking to inmates about their circumstances and listening to what brought them to this chapter in their lives. I found that with a felony conviction, you’re never given a chance. There’s a stigma. When you have a felony, people judge you, but you can’t find employment. I don’t condone crime, but when you’re in survival mode, you may find yourself in a situation where you get busted again.”
Slaven has plenty of company: It’s estimated that 19 million felons in America are facing similar employment challenges. A new book by an investment strategist argues that second-chance hiring — employing people with a criminal record — builds stronger communities, increases public safety and boosts the bottom line.
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In “Untapped Talent: How Second-Chance Hiring Works for Your Business and the Community,” Jeffrey Korzenik implores business leaders to consider hiring ex-offenders as a counterweight to the sparse labor markets of recent years.
“The tight labor markets of 2018 and 2019 were a wake-up call that businesses should not take an abundant labor force for granted,” he said. “Part of that dynamic is demographic: Roughly 10,000 baby boomers will retire each day over the next decade, and with the millennial generation largely in the workforce, there’s not a next big wave of home-grown workers.”
Colin Slaven drafted the business plan for what would become the Second Chance Jobs Center while serving a sentence for conspiracy to commit bank fraud. (Courtesy of Colin Slaven/Second Chance Jobs Center)
Like Slaven, Korzenik points to recidivism as a challenge to opportunities for ex-offenders, particularly in the African American community, where one in three men has a felony conviction.
“The pervasiveness of incarceration and subsequent joblessness has robbed these communities of role models, mentors and the intergenerational transmission of skills needed to be a viable employee, so too many young people become involved in the justice system and repeat the cycle over again,” he said. “I see second-chance employment as the critical path to breaking this terrible cycle.”
The second-chance hiring model
Korzenik writes in his book that “the potential for any nation’s economy to grow boils down to two factors: 1) how fast it can grow its employed labor force, and 2) how quickly it can grow the productivity of its workers. The product of this sum is the long-term growth potential.” His second-chance hiring model aligns with these factors.
“The concept is very simple, requiring two processes, one that can identify the people determined to rebuild their lives and the second, which provides them the support to thrive as employees,” he said.
“In practice, this means employers must invest time in building partnerships with nonprofits, specialized temp staffing or transitional employment organizations and government agencies to build the right pipeline.”
The investment in second-chance hiring varies according to employers’ individual approach to tackling their labor needs.
“There is absolutely an investment of time, and often there is a financial investment as well,” Korzenik said. “What’s unusual about seeking this talent pool is how many outside resources are available to the second-chance employers —nonprofit service providers, tax credits, government agencies.
“Each employer has to calibrate the program to their needs and resources. A no-cost program that focuses on people who have already rebuilt their lives will yield some previously overlooked talent. On the other extreme, looking at people immediately exiting incarceration will yield more candidates, but will also require the employer to invest more in accommodations and services.
Employers need to understand the trade-offs and be very intentional in their process.”
Giving ex-offenders a fair chance
Building a best-in-class hiring program for ex-offenders is not an easy task. Korzenik devotes an entire chapter on how one Ohio-based company, through trial and error, created its “Fair Chance” initiative.
Manufacturing firm JBM Packaging has operated outside of Cincinnati, in Lebanon, Ohio, since it opened in 1985. Although JBM is close to the Cincinnati labor market, the company went through a seven-year stretch where qualified labor was hard to find, particularly among those workers without a car. Attempts to woo area high school students and seasoned workers fell flat, forcing the company to hire expensive, but not always productive temp-to-hire employees.
“Some leaders have built companies from the ground up as second-chance employers,” Korzenik writes in the book. “That is not the case with JBM. By all appearances, [Chief Executive Officer] Marcus Sheanshang came to second-chance hiring as an ordinary businessman with an ordinary business problem. But with Sheanshang’s leadership, the way this initiative changed the company and the lives of its employees was extraordinary.”
After learning of the second-chance hiring concept from church members, Sheanshang took the idea to his executive team, who roundly criticized it over issues of safety and performance.
“Fair Chance is a tenet of what we’re trying to do as a company,” said Sheanshang. “Not everyone loves it, but they’re behind it and support it because it’s important.”
“These concerns really speak to the necessity of having a process for selecting the right person for employment,” said Korzenik. “With a pool of 19 million Americans with felony convictions, it is ridiculous to say that all of them are unsuitable.
There are screening processes that can be very effective.”
Second Chance Job Center, HBI and Department of Labor Certificates. In 2019, Second Chance Job Center graduated 65 apprentices who are now working in their chosen fields. (Courtesy of Second Chance Job Center)
To make its employees feel safe, JBM limits its second-chance hiring to those convicted of minor offenses. Since it works with prisons and halfway houses, JBM is aware of candidates’ criminal history and conducts background checks before the candidates’ release date. Drug screenings, manufacturing aptitude tests and a screen for workplace fit round out the process.
“Many of these same sources of talent referrals can also provide support services, but ultimately the employer has to be sufficiently involved to make sure their workforce can access internal and external resources,” said Korzenik. “One of [JBM’s] best investments was hiring a life coach, who helps all of the company’s employees access helpful programs, subsidizing purchases of vehicles or other transportation needs, for example.
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Despite the early bumps in launching the program, JBM’s Fair Chance employees now comprise 35 of the company’s 150-person workforce.
Allies in the fight for second-chance hiring
While in prison, Slaven said his spiritual epiphany led him to draft a business plan for what is now the Second-Chance Job Center, a Charleston, South Carolina-area-based nonprofit that trains ex-offenders and others in a variety of job-related skills. Though the program is primarily focused on the state of South Carolina, Slaven said he hopes to expand soon into parts of Georgia and Florida, and eventually nationwide.
“We need to create the next generation of a skilled workforce,” he said.
In a similar vein, the Manufacturing Institute and the Charles Koch Institute recently announced a partnership to expand second-chance hiring opportunities in the manufacturing industry.
.Carolyn Lee, executive director of the Manufacturing Institute (Courtesy of the Manufacturing Institute)
“I agree with [the premise of Jeff’s book],” said Carolyn Lee, the manufacturing institute’s executive director.
“When you look at the number of people, I think one out of three have some sort of record that removes them from the workforce. And, when you look at the 700,000 open manufacturing jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it’s a bit of a no-brainer.”
The partnership includes a grant from the Koch institute to host a series of educational events where businesses and employers can learn best practices in second-chance hiring. The Manufacturing Institute has scheduled a webinar on the topic on June 10.
Cost of failure
Businesses that do not embrace second-chance hiring are making a big mistake, Korzenik contends.
“At the micro level, the failure to attract good employees means you can’t grow or perhaps can’t even service your existing customer, putting the business at a huge competitive disadvantage,” he said. “The macro level is just based on the numbers. Even if you don’t account for the potential costs savings in the criminal justice system, just the potential improvement in employment outcomes for just part of the justice-impacted population adds up to hundreds of billions of dollars.
