TRANSITIONAL JOBS, VOCATIONAL TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT RESOURCES
The following resources may be useful in helping ex-offenders find transitional jobs, receive vocational training and obtain full time employment. This is by no means a complete list of all Transitional Job programs in California. I am constantly looking to update our list of TJ providers. If you do not see your program listed, or know of a TJ program that is not here, please let us know at forresthill07 [at] gmail.com
Organizations Throughout California
Career One Stop Centers Skills Profiler
Click the logo below to use the Career One Stop Center Skills Profiler website. This site allows you to create a list of your skills and matches them to job types that use those skills. This is a great tool for ex-offenders seeking transitional and full time employment.
Location of all Career One Stop Centers in California
Click on the icon below to find a Career One Stop Center near you. The locations are stored on a PDF file. In order to view the file you need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. This is a free program available from the Adobe web site. To install it, simply follow the download directions on the Adobe web site.
Northern California Organizations
Allen Temple Housing and Economic Development Corporation
Website: http://tinyurl.com/3potwgl
Location: 8501 International Blvd. – Building A, Oakland, CA 94621
Phone: 510-567-1490
E-Mail: reem@athedco.net
Allen Temple Housing and Economic Development Corporation is a faith-based organization whose mission is to provide education, vocational training, and career development services to formerly incarcerated individuals in order to assist them to become self-sufficient; develop and follow designated career paths; help build strong communities; work on the reunifications of families; avoid re-offending, and lower the recidivism rate.
Arriba Juntos
Website: www.arribajuntos.org
Location: 1850 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
Phone: 415-487-3240
E-Mail: info@arribajuntos.org
Arriba Juntos, a community-based organization, has been in operation for 36 years, serving a diverse population in San Francisco including ex-offenders. They have direct placement for clients who have job skills. Training is available in computer technology, including MS Office Suite, and certified nursing assistance with the ability to obtain California licensing. Arriba Juntos will assist clients in obtaining licensure from the State of California. Arriba Juntos has a subsidized wage/on job training program that is used as an incentive to employers to hire individuals with criminal records.
The Bread Project
Website: http://www.breadproject.org/
Location: 1701 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94702
Phone: 510-644-4575
Email: info@breadproject.org
The Bread Project is a California nonprofit 501(c)(3) public benefit corporation that trains people with low income who face barriers to employment in the skills needed for entry-level commercial baking and cooking positions.
To help trainees make the transition into employment, the program includes a job readiness component. Trainees learn about job search, resume writing, interview, and job retention skills.
California Reentry Program
Website: http://ca-reentry.org/
Location: P.O. Box 483, San Quentin, CA 94964
Email: http://ca-reentry.org/contact/
The mission of the California Reentry Program is to assist California prisoners in successfully reentering society. This includes developing parole plans; providing prisoners assistance with developing social skills and obtaining services in their local communities; promoting public support for such programs; and providing a model for reentry programs that can be replicated in California and elsewhere.
Center for Employment Training
CET is a private, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to fighting poverty & dependence on public aid by making hands-on job training available to youth and adults of all educational levels & backgrounds, but especially to those most in need and hardest to serve.
The mission of CET, an economic and community development corporation is to promote human development and education by providing people with marketable skills training and supportive services that contribute to self-sufficiency.
CET offices are located in the following locations in Northern California (see below for Southern CA offices):
Center Point, Inc.
Website: http://www.cpinc.org/housing.php
Location: 135 Paul Drive, San Rafael, CA 94903
Phone: 415-492-4444
Center Point offers on-the-job training opportunities in Food Services, Operations and Maintenance, Administrative Support, Child Care and other positions that provide an entrance into employment. On-the-job training positions are determined through local labor market research which allows the Agency to tailor training towards those fields with the greatest employment growth potential.
As part of Center Point’s holistic approach to treatment, we ensure that our clients transition smoothly into the work force by providing onsite educational services, vocational skills training, and job placement assistance. Each Center Point client participates in an evaluation of their skills, abilities, and interests conducted by Vocational Counselors in order to tailor the vocational services to their individual assessed needs.
Delancey Street Foundation
Website: http://www.delanceystreetfoundation.org/facsf.php
Location: 600 Embarcadero San, San Francisco, CA 94107
Phone: 415-512-5104
Delancey Street Foundation is based on the principle of self motivation. Success in the program is based on “pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps.” Program capacity is 450 persons at the San Francisco facility.
A two-year commitment is required of all participants, however, participants may stay longer in the program if needed. Walk-ins are accepted for interviews; offenders may be interviewed while incarcerated. To be placed on a waiting list, individuals must write a letter requesting an interview. Recently released offenders must be able to transfer their parole supervision to San Francisco.
Residents learn not only academic and vocational skills, but also the interpersonal, social survival skills, along with the attitudes, values, sense of responsibility, and self-reliance necessary to live in the mainstream of society drug-free, successfully and legitimately. Delancey Street owns and operates several commercial businesses staffed by its residents. Individuals receive training in different vocational, business skills as well as managerial skills in the different aspects of business, and skills in owning and operating a business.
Family School/STRIVE
Website: http://www.thefamilyschool.org/employment.html
Location: 3101 Mission Street, Ste 101, San Francisco CA 94110
Phone: 415-550-4173
Email: afelipe@thefamilyschool.org
Using the nationally recognized STRIVE model, The Family School addresses self-defeating attitudes and behaviors that prevent workplace success. Participants are trained in employability skills and graduates are placed in jobs offering career advancement. With pre-employment attitudinal and job readiness training, as well as post-job placement support services, The Family School/STRIVE uses this program to lead participants to permanent employment and self-sufficiency.
Garden Project
Website: http://www.gardenproject.org/thegardenproject.htm
Location:P.O. Box 24292, San Francisco, CA 94124-0292
Phone: 650-588-8253
Email: feedback@gardenproject.org
The Garden Project’s mission is to provide job training and support to former offenders through counseling and assistance in continuing education, while also impacting the communities from which they come. Garden Project Apprentices work in an intensive program to learn horticulture skills and grow organic vegetables that feed seniors and families in San Francisco. The Garden Project model for community change is an integrated, community-wide, systemic response to crime, high rates of recidivism, and unemployment which links crime and poverty with stewardship of the environment and the community.
Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin
Website: http://www.sfgoodwill.org/Home.aspx
Location: 1500 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103-2513
Phone: (415) 575-2101
Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin Counties provides education and career services to ex-offenders and people with disadvantages that are discriminated against in the work force. 85% of the cost of these services is paid for by their retail businesses. Sometimes called the “original recycler,” Goodwill’s main business is to collect donated clothes, jewelry, even automobiles and sell them online or in one of our 17 retail outlets. Every month, they serve 325 program participants, place 73 people in jobs, process over 100,000 retail transactions, and divert 1.5 million lbs. of material goods from landfill.
Northern California Service League
Website: www.norcalserviceleague.org
Location: 40 Boardman Place, San Francisco, CA 94103
SF Phone: 415-863-2323
NCSL is a non-profit agency located in San Francisco. They have work inside and outside of San Francisco Jails and California State Prisons and criminal justice for 60 years. Their mission is to create safer, healthier communities by helping the incarcerated and the formerly incarcerated become responsible and contributing members of society. NCLF provides in-jail and post-release education, work readiness training, job development and job placement, and holds an annual Job Fair for the Ex-Offender.
One Stop Career Link Centers
Website: http://www.sfgov2.org/index.aspx?page=913
Location: Seven locations in San Francisco, CA
Phone: 415-401-4917
Career Link is part of California’s One Stop Center System. Individuals with a criminal history are referred to a job agent for services. Each job agent is expected to have 60 successful closures per year. (A closure is considered placing a client in a job that the client retains for 90 days or more.) Services include: job search workshops; one-on-one job counseling; vocational counseling; resource library; computerized job skills testing software; computers and equipment available for use in preparing cover letters, job resumes, job applications; and internet access for job search. Clients must call for an appointment.
Opportunities Industrialization Center West (OICW)
Website: http://www.joecjimenez.com/websites/oicw/www.oicw.org/oicw/services/assess.html
Locations: 1200 O’Brien DR. Room 137B, Menlo Park, CA
Phone: 650-462-6316
Opportunities Industrialization Center West (OICW) is a non-profit vocational training school that provides low-or no-cost entry level training. As a One-Stop Center, it services walk-in clients in collaboration with other agencies. At its location are offices of the Department of Social Services, a local community college and a local adult school. It also provides youth services in the form of after-school programs for drop-outs or potential drop-outs. Training classes run from six weeks to six months. Training is available in the construction trades, hazardous material removal, culinary arts, clerical, certified nurse assistant, Web Desk Top publishing and A+ Certification (computer technician), including the Oracle system. Approximately 300 people receive services daily. OICW also assists recently released offenders with the expungement of California criminal records.
Project Re-Connect
Website: http://www.projectreconnect.net/
Location: 6939 MacArthur Boulevard, Oakland, California 94605
Phone: 510-482-1738
Email: info@projectreconnect.net
Project Re-Connect is a non-profit counseling program to assist “high risk” youth ages 12 to 16 years who are referred by the Juvenile Justice System. The primary goal of Project Re-Connect is to facilitate the functioning of the youth in their home, school and society.
Rubicon Programs Inc.
Website: www.rubiconprograms.org
Location: 2500 Bissell Ave, Richmond CA 94804
Phone: 510-235-1516
Rubicon Programs serves a diverse population that includes low income, disabled, non-custodial fathers and the homeless. It does not specifically target recently released offenders, however many recently released offenders fall into one of the categories that it serves. Its programs offer a myriad of services ranging from basic pre-employment skills, job search assistance, life skills, on-the-job paid training and experience at Rubicon program headquarters to job retention support services. Approximately 2,500 clients undergo the intake process each year.
Sonoma County Job Link
Website: www.socojoblink.org
Location: 2245 Challenger Way, Santa Rosa, CA 95407
Phone: 707-565-5550
An employment and training one-stop center open to the public. The Partners located on-site provide access to the Department of Rehabilitation, Employment Development Department, Santa Rosa Junior College, Veterans Programs, Human Services Department, Experience Works, and Goodwill Industries. Services include Resume Writing Workshops, Job Search Workshops, Interviewing Workshops, Self Assessment Workshops, Job Search Computers, and a Job Search Resource Center.
Volunteers of America Bay Area
Website: http://www.voaba.org/Services/CorrectionServices/tabid/5937/Default.aspx
Location: 1601 Harbor Bay Parkway, Suite 150 Alameda, CA 94502
Phone: 510-473-0500
Email: chilke@voaba.org
VOABA runs two residential community based reentry programs for low-risk offenders released from prison and on parole. During their 120-day to 1-year stay, the men receive training on substance abuse, job search and placement, anger and stress management, victim awareness, and life skills.
VOABA also works in collaboration with Project Choice and the City of Oakland’s Measure Y initiative to offer hope, support, services and accountability to young offenders returning to the Oakland community. The program provides pre-release services and intensive individual and group counseling to young adult (18-30) prisoners returning to Oakland in order to reduce recidivism.
Central Valley California Organizations
Centerforce
Website: http://www.centerforce.org/
Location: 4709 N. El Capitan Ave., Suite 202, Fresno, CA 93722
Email: http://www.centerforce.org/contact/
Phone: 559- 276-6160
Centerforce develops and delivers innovative solutions by providing health education, family and community programs to this often neglected community. Their programs Include:
- Foster transformative experiences during incarceration
- Promote ties between incarcerated people and their families to improve quality of life, support successful re-entry, and decrease re-incarceration
- Assist individuals in gaining access to needed services before and during re-entry to support successful re-entry and decrease re-incarceration
- Recognize the impact that incarceration has on the entire family and social system, and the importance of supporting all people whose lives are impacted by incarceration
- Educate men, women, and families about important health concerns that disproportionately affect people in prison
Fresno Career Development Institute
Website: http://fresnocdi.com/
Location: 1645 E St # 105, Fresno, CA 93706
Email: http://fresnocdi.com/contact.html
Phone: 559-498-7155
Fresno Career Development Institute, Inc. (FCDI) is a nonprofit community based organization that serves the employment, training and educational needs, of both economically disadvantaged adult and high risk youth job seekers.The services include work readiness, vocational training assessment, on-the-job training, supportive services, work experience, drug abuse treatment, job placement and follow-up services for ex-offenders.
Southern California Organizations
A New Way of Life
Website: http://www.anewwayoflife.org/
Location: PO Box 875288, Los Angeles, CA 90087
Phone: 323-563-3575
Email: info@anewwayoflife.org
More than 70% of the women who come to stay in our sober living homes and participate in our programming are successful in breaking the cycle—staying out of prison, and getting their lives back on track.
Center for Employment Training
CET is a private, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to fighting poverty & dependence on public aid by making hands-on job training available to youth and adults of all educational levels & backgrounds, but especially to those most in need and hardest to serve.
The mission of CET, an economic and community development corporation is to promote human development and education by providing people with marketable skills training and supportive services that contribute to self-sufficiency.
CET offices are located in the following locations in Southern California (see above for Northern CA offices):
Center for Living & Learning
Website: http://www.center4living.lle.org/
Location: 14549 Archwood Street #221, Van Nuys, CA
Phone: 818-781-1073
E-Mail: rhonda@center4living.org
The mission of Center for Living and Learning is to improve lives by assisting individuals transitioning from rehabilitation or with barriers to employment, into the workforce so that they may become contributing members of society. The main focus of the Center for Living and Learning is on providing paid vocational apprenticeships to rehabilitated criminals, recovering drug abusers, at-risk youth and other disadvantaged individuals in computer skills, data entry, customer service and administration.
Chrysalis
Website: http://www.changelives.org/
Locations: Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and the San Fernando Valley
Phone: 213-806-6350
Email: hire@changelives.org
Chrysalis is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a pathway to self-sufficiency for homeless and low-income individuals by providing the resources and support needed to find and retain employment. Since our start in 1984, we have helped over 35,000 individuals change their lives through jobs.
Delancey Street Foundation
Website: http://www.delanceystreetfoundation.org/facla.php
Location: 400 N. Vermont Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90004
Phone: 323-644-4122
The Delancey Street Foundation Los Angeles facility is located near midtown, right off the Hollywood freeway. The facility can house up to approximately 300 resident ex-offenders.
A two-year commitment is required of all participants, however, participants may stay longer in the program if needed. Walk-ins are accepted for interviews; offenders may be interviewed while incarcerated. To be placed on a waiting list, individuals must write a letter requesting an interview. Recently released offenders must be able to transfer their parole supervision to Los Angeles.
Delancey Street-Los Angeles has a 50,000 square foot warehouse Business Complex located in Montebello. This complex houses a number of Delancey Training Schools including Moving & Trucking, Automotive, Auto Body Shop, Warehouse Shipping and Receiving, Terrarium, Ceramics and Iron Handcraft Works and Sales.
Ex-offenders Action Network
Website: http://www.exoffenderactionnetwork.org/services.htm
Locations: 4701 South Central Avenue — Los Angeles, CA 90011
Phone: 323-238-0445
Email: info@exoffenderactionnetwork.org
The Ex-Offender Action Network (EAN) is a newly formed organization of ex-offenders who have come together to support recently released ex-offenders and incarcerated persons. EAN provides ex-offenders with access to peer focus groups, job training and placement assistance, education courses (GED), AIDS outreach, drug and alcohol treatment programs, and health education services.
Friends Ouside LA
Website: http://friendsoutsidela.org/
Locations:
Pasadena: 464 E. Walnut St. – Pasadena, CA 91101
Watts: 1827 E. 103rd St. – Los Angeles, CA 90002
Long Beach: 800 West Pacific Coast Hwy – Long Beach, CA 90806
Phone: 626-795-7607 (Main Office)
Email: info@friendsoutsidela.org
Friends Outside LA provides free services for families affected by incarceration and their incarcerated/formerly incarcerated loved ones. These services are available from their community-based offices in Pasadena, Watts, and Long Beach, and include an after-school program for children with incarcerated parents, job assistance, emergency food, bus tokens, emotional support, support groups, client advocacy, information about the criminal justice system, and resource referrals.
Homeboy Industries
Website: http://www.homeboy-industries.org/
Locations: 130 W. Bruno St., Los Angeles, CA 90012
Phone: 323-526-1254
Email: info@homeboy-industries.org
Homeboy Industries serves at-risk and gang involved youth with a continuum of services and programs designed to meet their multiple needs, and runs four businesses that serve as job-training sites.
From a charter high school to tattoo removal to poetry classes and solar panel installation training, comprehensive services are offered to all who walk through Homeboy’s doors. After completing job-readiness programs, clients can be placed in one of our four businesses, where former rivals work side by side baking bread, learning to silkscreen, developing retail skills, or running a restaurant and catering business.
Metro United Methodist Urban Ministry
Website: http://www.metrosandiego.org/
Locations: 6154 Mission Gorge, Suite 104, San Diego, CA 92116
Phone: 619-285-5556
Email: info@metrosandiego.org
Metro United Methodist Urban Ministry provides employment-focused services that include job readiness, job placement, unpaid work experience, on-the-job training and community service; Metro staff also strive to assist participants in finding appropriate occupational skill training.
Playa Vista Job Opportunities and Business Services (PVJOBS)
Web Site: www.pvjobs.org
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Phone: 310-448-4684
Playa Vista is a construction development, non-profit organization located in Los Angeles. The company allots 10% of all jobs at the construction site to at-risk people, including individuals with criminal histories. PVJOBS is considered a one-stop job center. Assessment of math and reading skills is done, as well as assistance with job resumes and job placement. Clients must be referred from another One Stop Center or a community-based organization. From information received through the assessment and job skills, an employment profile is developed and entered into the PVJOBS data base. Both union and nonunion contractors work on the development site. Clients are eligible to become members of the different trade unions.
Salvation Army S.T.E.P.S. Program
Website: http://tinyurl.com/3fsklgf
Locations: 825 Avenue, San Diego, CA 92101
Phone: 619 446-0451
Salvation Army’s S.T.E.P.S. program in San Diego is a transitional employment program which provides shelter, job preparedness training, employment counseling and case management, to help men receintly released from prison return to independent living. The men are accepted into the program based upon motivation, attitude, and willingness to change.
Second Chance/STRIVE
Website: http://www.secondchanceprogram.org/strive_prog.html
Location: 6145 Imperial Avenue, San Diego, CA 92114
Phone: 619-234-8888
Second Chance serves individuals with a criminal history, long-term unemployed/underemployed, or homeless people. Using the STRIVE model, Second Chance encompasses a three-week job readiness program. In addition to assistance with resume writing, clothing and interview techniques, soft skills such as eye contact and hand shaking are taught. Upon completion of the three-week program, graduates of the program attend a job fair. STRIVE program graduates have a 95% employment rate. Job developers are also available to assist individuals who do not enter the STRIVE program to develop skills enabling them to do a job search on their own. These individuals also attend the monthly job fair held by Second Chance. Transitional work experience is also available for those people who have never worked or have not worked in many years. This allows participants to gain entry-level work experience with the goal of obtaining permanent employment.
Volunteers of America of Greater Los Angeles
Website: http://www.voala.org/services/rehab.php
Locations: 3600 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 1500, Los Angeles, CA 90010
Phone: 213-228-1911
Email: dramirez.voala@gmail.com
Rehabilitation of ex-offenders through supervised residential programs that include vocational counseling and referrals. VOAGLA’ s job’s program focuses on helping incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals reintegrate back into society by providing job development, case management, and mentoring services.
Welcome Home Ministries
Website: http://www.welcomehomeint.org/Reentry-Model.php
Locations: 1701 Mission Ave, Trlr A Oceanside, CA 92054
Phone: 760-439-1136
Email: http://www.welcomehomeint.org/Contact-Us.php
Re-entry resources are offered for women at the WHM offices. Interviewing skills for possible employment opportunities is offered in the form of a Power Point presentation. Educational enrollment in local community college assistance is offered. WHM also offers assistance in the areas of employment readiness.
The WorkPlace
Website: www.theworkplaceca.com
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Phone: 213-386-1994
The WorkPlace is a private-for-profit company that specializes in serving the parolee population. It has six offices in the San Fernando Valley, Orange County and Los Angeles County. The agency has a contract with the California Department of Corrections. Job specialists assist clients with developing resumes, completing job applications, and acquiring interview skills prior to developing job opportunities. Job specialists enroll clients in vocational training and coordinate efforts with One Stop Centers. Clients must call to schedule an appointment; walk-in appointments are not accepted.
WEBSITES THAT ADVERTISE JOBS FOR EX-OFFENDERS
Felony Friendly Jobs
Website: http://www.felonyjobs.info/
Felony Friendly Jobs, is a new site dedicated to offering tips and advice on felony jobs across the U.S. They offer tips for jobs online, as well as information on tips and jobs for felons found in a variety of other area, including local CDL jobs, courier jobs, and a variety of other professions.
Hard2Hire
Website: http://www.hard2hire.com/
FREE job placement for people with a criminal record Hard2Hire helps people who have the hardest time creating their own pathway to prosperity. People with disabilities, ex-offenders, older workers, and many others can find their way forward using their web service.
IMDiversity.com
Website: http://www.imdiversity.com/
IMDiversity.com is dedicated to providing career and self-development information to all minorities, specifically African Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Latino/Hispanic Americans, Native Americans and women. The goal of IMDiversity.com is to provide you with access to the largest database of equal opportunity employers committed to workplace diversity.
Jails to Jobs
Website: http://jailstojobs.org/
Jails to Jobs is an organization that gives ex-offenders the tools they need to find employment. On their website you’ll find a step-by-step plan to follow as you carry out your job search. From researching potential employers and writing resumes to handling interviews and more—it’s all there, with advice tailored to the special needs of those recently released from jail and prison. This is an incredible resource!
Jobs for Felons
Website: http://www.jobsforfelons.net/
Jobs for felons offers employment for felons online, jobs for convicted felons, and other legal money making opportunity tips and advice.
Jobs for Felons 101.com
Website: http://jobsforfelons101.com/
This website strives to educate and equip those with felonies on their record to be able to secure a job and prosper in a career. They provide educational tools and job resources to aid ex-offenders in securing a job and fulfilling a positive and productive role in society.
THE CFED SAVINGS AND FINANCIAL SECURITY PROGRAM
Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED)
Main Website: http://preview.cfed.org/programs/idas/
Directory: http://preview.cfed.org/programs/idas/directory_search/
Location: 66 locations throughout California
Individual Development Accounts(IDAs) are special savings accounts that match the deposits of low- and moderate-income people. For every dollar saved in an IDA, savers receive a corresponding match which serves as both a reward and in incentive to further the saving habit. Savers agree to complete financial education classes and use their savings for an asset-building purpose – typically for post-secondary education or job training, home purchase, or to capitalize a small business. In addition to earning match dollars, savers learn about budgeting, saving and receive additional training before purchasing an asset. IDAs make it possible for individuals to build the financial assets they need to achieve the American Dream.
The CFED Directory website provides information on the location of organizations offering Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) throughout the U.S. There are 66 locations in California alone.
BUSINESS START-UP WEBSITES FOR EX-OFFENDER ENTREPRENEURS
AllBusiness.com
Website: http://www.allbusiness.com/
AllBusiness.com is the world’s largest online resource for small businesses, providing essential tools and resources to start, grow, and manage your business. AllBusiness.com brings you real-world expertise and practical advice from some of the best minds in small business:
Their services include
- A unique corp of world-class bloggers that provide in-depth subject-matter knowledge in key topics from sales and marketing to human resources and technology.
- A large and growing library of how-to articles that offers quick, insightful tips to improve your business.
- Videos and podcasts about starting a business, adding important voices to your network of experts.
- One of the best list of new business franchise opportunities in the country
CFED Entrepreneurship Program
Website: http://cfed.org/priorities/Entrepreneurship/
CFED entrepreneurship program was founded 30 years ago on the promise that microenterprise held for generating jobs and income in low income communities. Today that work is embodied by our investment in entrepreneurship.
CFED believes that business ownership is second only to homeownership as a source of household wealth in our country. They see support for entrepreneurs, especially disadvantaged ones, as a key strategy for individual asset-building and as a critical component of a healthy local economy.
The Entrepreneurship Program at CFED focuses on social innovations that support entrepreneurship in new and targeted ways.
Minority Business Development Agency
Website: http://www.mbda.gov/
MBDA provides funding for a network of Minority business centers located throughout the Nation. The Centers provide minority entrepreneurs with one-on-one assistance in writing business plans, marketing, management and technical assistance and financial planning to assure adequate financing for business ventures.
Minority Business Enterprise Centers in California (MBEC)
The mission of the California MBEC is to actively promote the growth and competitiveness of Minority Business Enterprises via 3 areas of service:
- Access to Capital (loans, lines of credit, surety bonds)
- Contracting which involves assisting minority business in finding public and private sector sales and contracting opportunities
- Technical Assistance
- Northern California Minority Business Enterprise Center – Website: http://www.norcalmbec.com/
- The Los Angeles Minority Business Enterprise Center – Website: http://www.losangelesmbec.org/
MoreBusiness.com
Website: http://www.morebusiness.com/
MoreBusiness.com is an award-winning, one-stop resource website for entrepreneurs. Created in 1994, MoreBusiness.com is filled with sample business plans, marketing plans, templates, sample contracts and business agreements to help entrepreneurs start and grow a small business.
SCORE Counselors to America’s Small Business
Website: http://www.score.org/
SCORE provides free and confidential small business advice for entrepreneurs they offer advice both online and in-person at one of their 364 offices nationwide. SCORE’s 13,000 volunteer mentors have more than 600 business skills. Volunteers are working or retired business owners, executives and corporate leaders who share their wisdom and lessons learned in business.
The Idea Café: “A Fun Approach to Serious Business”
Website: http://www.businessownersideacafe.com/
Once upon a time, a long time ago (like the 1980′s) it was almost impossible for an entrepreneur to get the info needed to start and run a business. Just finding what government agencies you’d have to sign up with, report to, and pay taxes to was a Sisyphean task. Today, the opposite problem confounds entrepreneurs — there’s so much info you can’t even begin to digest it — especially now with the Web.
Being seasoned entrepreneurs, we knew what people who run small businesses need and want. So in Summer 1995, we started dishing up flavorful business fare at http://www.ideacafe.com. Entrepreneurs need critical info fast, so they can take action now. They hate textbooks, they hate people who don’t know what it’s like trying to tell them what to do. So at Idea Cafe, we serve info fast, fresh, friendly and for real.
United States Small Business Administration
Website: www.sba.gov/starting_business/index.html
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) was created in 1953 as an independent agency of the federal government to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns, to preserve free competitive enterprise and to maintain and strengthen the overall economy of our nation. We recognize that small business is critical to our economic recovery and strength, to building America’s future, and to helping the United States compete in today’s global marketplace. Although SBA has grown and evolved in the years since it was established in 1953, the bottom line mission remains the same. The SBA helps Americans start, build and grow businesses.
LEGAL ASSISTANCE
Free or low-cost legal resources, both in civil and criminal law, are helpful to individuals with criminal histories in learning about relevant state laws governing the expungement or sealing of criminal histories or addressing other legal issues resulting from having a criminal history.
State Public Defender – California Public Defender Association (CPDA)
Website: http://www.claraweb.us/
Contact: California Public Defender Association (CPDA),
3273 Ramos Circle, Suite 100
Sacramento, CA 95827
Phone:
916-362-1686
Email: cpda@cpda.org
Help with expungement of criminal record
OneJustice
Website: http://one-justice.org/
Contact:
OneJustice, 433 California Street, Suite 815, San Francisco, CA 94104
Phone:
415-834-0100
Email: tdo@one-justice.org
OneJustice works with lawyers and law students to empower California’s ex-offenders who need legal help just to meet essential life necessities. OneJustice makes sure the help is there when and where it is needed.
Legal Barriers to Employment Project
Website: http://www.baylegal.org/client-services/LBEPdetail
How to Get Help: http://www.baylegal.org/get-help/
Contact:
Legal Barriers to Employment Project
Bay Area Legal Aid
San Francisco County Regional Office
50 Fell Street, 1st Floor
San Francisco, CA 94102
Phone: 800-551-5554
Legal advocate working on helping ex-offenders overcome barriers to employment.
East Bay Community Law Center
Website: http://www.ebclc.org/
Contact:
East Bay Community Law Center
2921 Adeline Street,
Berkeley, CA 94703
Phone:
510-548-4040
Email: webinquiry@ebclc.org
EBCLC provides desperately-needed legal services to the low-income community in the areas of housing, welfare, HIV & health, homelessness and economic development. They also assists clients with legal barriers to employment, including criminal records.
The National Center for Youth Law
Website: http://www.youthlaw.org/
Contact:
National Center for Youth Law
405 14th Street, 15th Floor
Oakland, CA 94612
Phone: 510-835-8098
Email: info@youthlaw.org
The National Center for Youth Law (NCYL) uses the law to improve the lives of low-income children. NCYL works to ensure that low-income children have the resources, support, and opportunities they need for healthy and productive lives. Much of NCYL’s work is focused on poor children who are additionally challenged by abuse and neglect, disability, or other disadvantage.
NCYL also is working to prevent barriers to employment for adult and juvenile ex-offenders.
Neighborhood Legal Services of LA County
Website: http://www.nls-la.org/
Contact:
Neighborhood Legal Services of LA County
13327 Van Nuys Boulevard
Pacoima, CA 91331
Phone: 800-433-6251
NLSLA helps people in need of legal representation or advice but cannot afford it. NLSLA provides legal services that lead to improved health, expanded economic opportunities and neighborhood development. Help is available at no cost to qualifying residents in the areas of Family Law, Immigration Law, Administrative (Public Benefits) Law, Housing Law, Employment Law, Health Law and Community and Consumer Law.
Social Justice Law Project
Contact:
Social Justice Law Project
510 16th Street, Suite 201
Oakland, CA 94612
Phone:
510-893-1146
Email: socialjusticelaw@hotmail.com
The Social Justice Law Projects are advocates working on the issues of employment, licensing, and housing problems. They bring impact litigation on behalf of persons with conviction and arrest records in the employment, licensing, and housing areas. They also work in the area of arrest record dissemination.
CRIMINAL RECORD REPOSITORY
California Department of Justice
Website: http://ag.ca.gov/fingerprints/security.php
Contact: Record Review Unit, P.O. Box 903417, Sacramento, CA 94203
Phone: 916-227-3835
This is the agency individuals may contact to obtain a copy of their state rap sheet and learn about the process of sealing, expunging or cleaning it up. The criminal record repository can also tell the individual who else is legally entitled to have access to his or her record.
Fingerprints and the reason for requesting a copy of a criminal history must be submitted, along with a $25 fee, to the California Department of Justice.
CALIFORNIA EMPLOYMENT DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT (EED)
California Employment Development Department
Website: http://www.edd.ca.gov/
Contact: 722 Capitol Mall, MIC 50, Sacramento, CA 95814
Information about State Department of Labor resources may be of interest to:
- potential employers looking for incentives to hire individuals with criminal histories
- service providers and individuals with criminal histories who are looking for assistance in finding employment
- researchers and policy makers looking at current programs to ascertain what programs are effective and serve their intended purpose.
A. Federal Bonding Program
Workforce Services Division,
California Employment Development Department
Contact: Susan Felt, State Bonding Coordinator
Location: CA Employment Development Dept, 800 Capitol Mall, MIC-50, Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916 654 7799
Email: susan.felt@edd.ca.gov
The Federal Bonding Program provides fidelity bonding insurance coverage to individuals with criminal histories and other high-risk job applicants who are qualified, but fail to get jobs because regular commercial bonding is denied due to their backgrounds.
B. Tax Credits
Workforce Opportunity Tax Credit (WORC)
Website: http://www.edd.ca.gov/jobs_and_training/Work_Opportunity_Tax_Credit.htm
Contact: EDD WOTC Center, 2901 50th Street, Sacramento, CA 95817-2399
Phone: 1-866-593-0173
The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) is a federal tax credit to reduce the federal tax liability of private for profit employers to be used as an incentive for employers to hire individuals from eight different targeted groups: TANF recipients, veterans, ex-felons, high risk youth, summer youth, Food Stamp recipients, SSI recipients, and vocational rehabilitation referrals.
C. Unemployment Insurance Office
Employment Development Department
Website: http://www.edd.ca.gov/unemployment/
Location: 722 Capitol Mall, MIC 83, Sacramento, CA 95814
Unemployment compensation is a social insurance program designed to provide benefits to most individuals out of work, generally through no fault of their own, for periods between jobs. In order to be eligible for benefits, jobless workers must demonstrate that they have worked, usually measured by amount of wages and/or weeks of work, and must be able and available for work.
The unemployment compensation program is based upon federal law, but administered by states under state law.
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I spent 10 years in California prisons and know the Pelican Bay SHU personally. I wrote a drug war novel Roll Call by Glenn Langohr to show the public the path we are on by incarcerating petty criminals is only breeding bigger ones who are displaced from society when they are released. The U.S is not the leaders of the free world; we are the leaders of the incarcerated world! I started http://www.lockdownpublishing.com when I got out of prison to help other prisoners change their lives through writing. http://youtu.be/jEQ8Gh1-bFs Here is the NY Review Kirkus Discoveries, Nielsen Business Media
discoveries@kirkusreviews.com
A harrowing, down-and-dirty depiction—sometimes reminiscent of Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic—of America’s war on drugs, by former dealer and California artist Langohr.
I’m also writing over 50 California prisoners to inspire them to turn their lives around through writing. I want interviews and publicity as I am broke out of prison and can’t afford the regular channels…
Thank you and God Bless- Glenn 949 357 7465
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