Conference aims to help former offenders find employment
Jon T. Ridge, Washington County assistant chief probation officer, speaks during the Washington County Re-Entry Conference and Community Resource Fair at the George Washington hotel on Tuesday.
Jon T. Ridge, assistant chief probation officer, offered advice on a number of issues.
Jon T. Ridge, assistant chief probation officer, answers questions during the Washington County Re-Entry Conference and Community Resource Fair.
The Rev. Terry Sanders, pastor at Genesis House in Uniontown, speaks at Tuesday’s event.
Poring over a job applicant’s rap sheet, Jim Hanna explained, can be an arresting development for an employer. Details can be unnecessary and damning.
“You must understand your arrest record,” said Hanna, job training coordinator of the Washington County Domestic Relations Office. “If you have an arrest that was non-processed, but is on your record, get it corrected. Any charge that is non-processed, dismissed or withdrawn can be expunged.
“Arrest records will hinder opportunities, but things can be done to alleviate them.”
Hanna, who assists incarcerated individuals in developing job-search skills and finding work, stressed accuracy on arrest records and honesty in job applications. Disclose a guilty plea or conviction and properly explain it, but make sure the criminal record doesn’t have unfair raps.
He was the kickoff speaker Tuesday at the Washington County Re-Entry Conference at the George Washington hotel in downtown Washington. It was a five-hour event designed to help former offenders find employment and successfully transition back into the community.
About 130 attended the conference, which featured 21 groups of vendors from social service providers to schools to training centers. A number of employers also were present, accepting applications from former offenders who took advantage of an extended lunch break to fill them out.
There was a wide spectrum of speakers who strode to the podium, expounding on a number of related topics including employment, training, recovery from substance abuse, legal services, fair housing and Social Security benefits,
The keynote speaker, Dean Williams, founder of the Formerly Convicted Citizens Project in Pittsburgh, was a last-minute scratch, however. Williams, who spoke at the May conference, spearheaded the “ban the box” legislation that the city of Pittsburgh adopted in December 2012, prohibiting employers from seeking criminal background information on applications.
It was the second such event aimed at those with criminal records.
“This was really educational,” said Lisa Neil, president of Southwest Training Services. “And it was not just for ex-offenders. Vendors could see what agencies do and see how they can collaborate (with them.)”
Hanna’s message on arrest records was especially educational. He said he has known some people who had a four-page rap sheet, but when every nonprocessed, dismissed and withdrawn charge was removed, that rap sheet shrunk to a half-page.
Jon T. Ridge, assistant chief probation officer for Washington County, addressed a variety of issues. He was asked about getting driver’s licenses reinstated, having records expunged and getting lives on track. But he emphasized that his office can do nothing about misdemeanor or felony convictions, and that the circumstances have to be considered on a case-by-case basis.
“We want to assist, but our first priority is the community,” Ridge said. “We look at individuals and assess risk and need. Is risk greater than need or is need greater than risk?”
He added, though, that “if you want to clean up your life, a (probation officer) can be a powerful source.”
Erich Curnow, a certified recovery specialist with the Washington County Drug & Alcohol Commission, said his agency has three primary focuses.
“We want to get people to treatment and make sure they stay,” he said. “We help people find a pathway to recovery, and we act as a resource broker. We help a client develop a recovery plan.”
The next conference will be in the spring, but in a different town – Douglas Education Center in Monessen. Future conference will alternate between Washington and the Mon Valley.
Tuesday’s event was sponsored by the Southwest Corner Workforce Development Board, President Judge Katherine Emery and Washington County Commissioner Diana Irey Vaughan.