09/14/2011 – Providing Employment Services Criminal Backgrounds
PROVIDING EMPLOYMENT SERVICES TO INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES WHO HAVE CRIMINAL BACKGROUNDS
Event Date: September 14, 2011Presenter: Danie EagletonFacilitator: Abby Cooper
Overview
ABBY COOPER: Welcome to the Southeast TACE Web series on providing employment series, Providing Employment Services to Individuals with Disabilities Who Have Criminal Backgrounds.
My name is Abby Cooper and I will be facilitating today's webinar.
As many of you know, the Southeast Region TACE center mission is to improve the quality and effectiveness of vocational rehabilitation services and to be enhance the employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities in the eight southeastern states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee and South Carolina.
TACE is a collaboration with the DBTAC and the Southeast ADA Center. Both TACE and the Southeast ADA Center are managed by Burton Blatt Institute of Syracuse University. We are as many of you know hosting quite a few webinars this year. If you signed up, that's wonderful. If you haven't, please visit our website to see what we are offering.
All instructions and materials for each webinar are posted on the website much.
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But at this point it is my great pleasure to introduce Danie Eagleton. Danie is a licensed mental health counselor in the State of Washington. She has extensive experience working with criminal offenders with mental health disabilities and has a passion for advocating for people living with mental health illness and other disabilities. She earned her BA from Seattle University and her master's degree in counseling and psychology from Howard University.
She has worked in nonprofits in King County for 16 years.
She has also worked in student development at Seattle University, Howard University, and Tufts University.
She currently is a fulltime professor at Seattle Community College.
Without further ado I will turn it over to you, Danie and we all look forward to hearing from you.
DANIE EAGLETON: Well, good afternoon, everyone. Can you all hear me?
I hope so.
Well let's get started. What we are going to be talking about today is providing employment services to individuals with disabilities who have criminal backgrounds. Slide 1…which is not moving for me.
ABBY COOPER: There it goes.
DANIE EAGLETON: Wonderful.
ABBY COOPER: Do you want me to move the slides for you, Danie?
DANIE EAGLETON: I think that might be good.
ABBY COOPER: Okay.
Slide 1: Areas to be cover
DANIE EAGLETON: So slide 1is areas we are going to cover today.
Elements that need to be considered before placing an individual.
The supports that need to be in place.
Money as a trigger.
How to work the employer community.
The use of second chance employers.
Working in partnership with the criminal justice system.
Slide 2: Imagine…
Slide 2, imagine. This is going to give us an example of a client that you might end he had up working with.
Imagine you are looking at a file of a newly assigned client.
That's all right. You are preparing to meet this client for the first time and you will be doing an initial intake.
These are some of the things that jump out at you.
A few brief points from the client summary. It's a 34yearold African American male, client has severe persistent mental illness and symptoms, posttraumatic stress disorder, hears voices.
The client has been in and out of foster care during his childhood.
The client has difficulty in school, but has completed his G.E.D.
Client has a history of alcohol and drug abuse. The client has an offender background that includes drug charges, burglary, felony and misdemeanors.
Client reports that he wants to work.
Okay.
Slide 3: Let’s look at the file again:
That's our first look at the file. Let's look at the file again.
Client is a 34yearold African American male. Client has successfully completed alcohol and drug treatment program. And has been sober for two years.
Client lives his life managing his PTSD or posttraumatic stress disorder. He takes medication to manage his symptoms of hearing voices.
Client's criminal charges are ten years old.
Client worked in the kitchen when he was in prison. He enjoys cooking.
Client reports that he wants a job.
Slide 4: Being able to see the individual
All of these things are interesting. It's very interesting when we look at the first look at the file versus the second look at the file. What I really want to talk to you about is being able to see the client being able to look at the client and see them not as the offense, but to see them as the person.
Tell this story positively. When you look at the second look at the file, we get positive things about this client about who he is and who he wants to be. He's gone to drug and alcohol treatment and he completed that treatment. He also has been sober for two years. What does that tell you? It tells you that the client has completed treatment and that his recovery is important to him.
Helping the person to realize what skills they have to build on. The client has not only completed treatment, but he picked up skills in prison. The client enjoys doing cooking. We know those things. Client also is willing to take medication for his symptoms from his posttraumatic stress disorder.
Also look at dependable strengths. The client likes what he does and you want to build on that. Translating what he has done before into possible job tasks. We want to know that one thing we want to look at is cooking. Anything involving cooking is involving a restaurant and maybe back of the house.
So we can see things when we look at things in a different way and begin to listen to the person's story and help them tell their story in a positive manner.
We provide a mechanism and/or a vehicle for our clients to create change and success in their lives. That all starts with the story that they tell us.
Next slide.
Slide 6: (Atticus Finch) Harper Lee-To Kill a Mockingbird
One of my favorite movies is To Kill a Mockingbird and I love Atticus Finch. This is a great quote: "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."
I teach counseling skills to students and we talk a lot about when the client comes in, it is no longer about you as a clinician or a counselor. It is really about the person who is in that chair, who really understands that it is not about you; it's about them. It is about you hearing and taking in their story.
Next slide.
Slide 7: Getting to know your client
Getting to know your client. Everything stems from that initial meeting when you meet your client. One of the things about working with people who have disabilities and people who have criminal backgrounds is really being able to set a warm and welcoming atmosphere, being able to develop trust by listening to your client share his or her story, being open and nonjudgmental. As I said before, it is not about you; it is about them and being able to support them.
Your goal is to gather as much information as you can to help your client to be successful.
Ask questions and leave space for your clients to answer. They will be willing to talk to you and tell you more about who they are if you are able to create the atmosphere of warmth and a welcoming atmosphere. And by you being able to get more information, that is really going to allow you to help your client to be successful.
Next slide.
Slide 8: Believe
Believe. Communicate your belief in your client. Let your client know that you can see them working. Create an atmosphere, a foundation for growth that inspires possibility and work towards opportunity.
If you can't see your client working, he or she will not be working.
I've seen this time and time again with my VOC specialists. If they didn't believe in their client, that client would sit on their case load and not be working. It really is about you being able to hold the dream for them until they are able to make it happen. Please keep that in mind.
Next slide.
Slide 9: Different Conversations
Different conversations. Frequently the VRC or CRP need to have different conversations with offenders. Understanding the conditions of their probation or their parole, knowing what are the triggers for the person, be it settings, money, people. What are the one of the issues around settings is a lot of times offenders are really needing to change up where they live, who their supports are. They also have to have an entirely different idea about money, an entirely different idea about how you might have made a lot of money before in terms of what you were doing that wasn't quite legal versus what you might actually make as a wage. People need some time to get used to that and they need to discuss that.
The settings also, it's very important to understand what settings a person can and cannot be in. Either it has to do with alcohol drug pieces or criminal activity that they have been in before. The settings are very important to be able to discuss those things. Again, that idea of leaving space so they can tell you and be honest about these things.
Dealing with grief and anger and lack of belief. So much of the time our society, particularly for folks who have disabilities as well as people with criminal background our society says that they are not allowed to belong. There is not a place for them.
And we have to help them to know that there is a place for them and help them to be find it again. It's holding that dream until they are able to hold it for themselves.
Also being able to understand where they might not understand, your client may not understand the rules of work, helping them to understand that. That idea of work, work culture, workplace communication: Very, very important. And what I think people don't always realize is what, that needs to maybe be a conversation, maybe eastbound a class. Maybe you are able to find some type of class in your community or something that DVR can put together that helps people understand those things and feel a little bit more comfortable.
Next slide.
Slide 10: The Power of a person’s goal
The power of a person's goals. VRCs can help the person visualize working and understand that they can be successful. I find that what really helps with this is really conversation. Visualizing the workplace, talking about what you think it might be versus what it is. And really having some good conversations about that. Setting goals helps the person visualize where he or she wants to go.
What I want to emphasize about setting goals is I really like the idea of creating baby steps for someone when it relates to goals as well as something that is individualized and tailored.
What is really important is that we really need to help our clients to be successful and it really is one step at a time.
So goals are very helpful, but it's also important that it fit for the person and where they are at at that time.
ABBY COOPER: Danie, you have a question and I don't know if you want to
DANIE EAGLETON: I'm sorry.
ABBY COOPER: If you want to wait until you talk about employers, but Amy want to know what you would advise saying to a potential employer when trying to get somebody hired who has a felony conviction.
And did you want to take that question when you talk about Second Chance employers? Or did you want to address it now?
DANIE EAGLETON: I will say a little bit about that now. One thing, we'll talk more about it when we get to Second Chance employers.
One of the things you really want to know up front is, you want to know more about the employer. And you want to know in a basic general piece without necessarily showing your hand what are they looking for when it comes to requirements around hiring people with convictions, because you want to be able to talk about your client in a positive way, but you also need to know where that employer is at. If that makes sense.