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inmates, because this is my third time
(incarcerated), and this is the only time that
I’ve actually been given an opportunity to
gain a skill, and this would be like a
management skill,” he said. “I feel like if I
was given that skill my first time, maybe I
wouldn’t even be here this time.’’
Although, he said, he didn’t learn a whole
lot the 2 1/2 years he spent folding clothes
before he moved up to management
“I like the fact that they trust me, and
that was missing in my life. I think I’m an
asset here, and I think that they think I’m
an asset here, so it’s a good feeling to come
into work knowing that you’re needed,”
Pierce said.
“Ever since I got this job, it’s made me
think, maybe I can do something out there
that’s productive, so I actually started school
here at Chemeketa,” he said. “That one
stepping stone made me think I could do
more. And I should do more. So if I didn’t
start here, I probably would have never done
any of that.”
A disconnect
As a corrections counselor for the
Multnomah County Department of
Community Justice, it’s Steve Ciccotelli’s job
to help former inmates find housing and
employment upon release.
He said that among Oregon’s forrher
inmates, “some do get valuable skills, and
some just do n o t”
Often, he said, former inmates lack
they did in prison - janitorial, cooking or
working in manufacturing, construction or
warehouses.
“They’ll start disqualifying themselves
before they even turned in an application.
That’s the biggest barrier,” he said. “I tell
them, don’t sell yourself short.”
But he is able to help inmates released
with a “binder full of certificates” to transfer
those accomplishments onto a resume.
Although, he said some of the jobs they
worked in prison are dying industries on the
outside.
“They are not seeing the changes in the
job market,” he said.
“Where it becomes complicated is where
you have a small industry and you have the
criminal history barrier,” he said. “It really
kind of shoots the person in the foot”
He noted that in his experience, inmates
serving long-term sentences are more likely
to have accessed beneficial technical
training and work during incarceration than
inmates serving shorter sentences.
For some inmates, getting that first job
can be difficult, taking up to six months in
some cases, which can mess with a former
inmate’s self-esteem, Ciccotelli said.
But there are employers willing to give
convicts a second shot
Todd Londin, owner of ABC Window
Cleaners and Building Maintenance LLC,
said he hires local workers with employment
barriers, including former prison inmates
with nonviolent convictions. He encourages
them to find better-paying work once they
have a few years of experience, he said.
He said for his company, some of the
janitorial skills taught in prisons, such as
floor care, stripping and waxing, are
beneficial, but he can teach the necessary
Jan. 6-12, 2017
have six months’ clear conduct, and for
some jobs, such as in the contact center, a
GED is required.
The PSU report recommended Oregon
Corrections Enterprises engage with more
high-risk inmates, optimize its businesses
and marketing, and expand its programs.
Jeske has outlined a strategic plan with
many of these recommendations at the
forefront, along with input from his staff,
something he said wasn’t happening before
he took over.
“For the first time in a long time, they
needed to feel like they were a valuable part
of the organization and the administration
cared about them,” he said.
When asked if he thought doubling or
tripling capacity in the next six years is
attainable, he said, “I would like to tell you,
yes, it’s attainable, but we struggle with ;
displacement in the community.
“At the end of the day, you still have to
have a product or a service that is in need
by the community.”
But slowly, he’s adding jobs. He’s
optimistic about a new transcription service
at the state’s only women’s prison and a
new website updating program that will
bring state websites into American
Disability Act compliance. This will add
about 35 to 50 jobs.
Additionally, inmates will soon be building
homeless shelters. Oregon Corrections
Enterprises came up with a design that ;
Jeske said “doesn’t look like a tool shed; it
has some character to it.”
He’s worked with mobile home
[ manufacturers in Oregon to ensure skills
INMATE JOBS, from page 9
the only work th ey can g et m irrors the work
Street Roots •
will qualify them to work at a home
manufacturing plant.
He plans to survey inmates for input on
new opportunities, and he’s working on a
skills to anyone who is willing to work.
program to build electric guitars under the
Employees Retirement System) and other
Prison Blues label, the same label used for
“I have found that the majority of people
things that keep raising our costs,” he said,
the prison’s line of jeans.
that I give a second Chance to work harder
but today his agency has more inmates
When Street Roots spoke with Jeske, he’d
and last longer than people that come in off
working in its programs than ever before
just learned the Department of Corrections
the street,” Londin said. “They prove they
while it manages to operate in the black.
want to be back in society, not be a drain on
Street Roots was denied access to Oregon approved a contest where inmates could
society,”
submit designs for the instrument they
Corrections
would mass-produce.
Enterprises’ most
“To me, if it comes
recent annual audit
Under new management
from the inmates,
but was told it found
wI rr e heard m illio n s @f
Ken Jeske took the reins of Oregon
that’s even better
“zero significant
stories a lo t of them dosft
Corrections Enterprises in 2014 after its
because the ownership
deficiencies.”
h a w aiach t@ be prond of
previous director, Rob Killgore, was fired
of that,” he said. “I’ve
In 2013, Portland
amid financial woes and conflicts with the
State University
heard millions of
because they harmed th e ir
Department of Corrections.
completed a three-
stories - a lot of them
fam ilies or ether people«
Jeske has worked in corrections for more
phase strategic
don’t
have much to be
S© whea they start having
than two decades. He began as a
assessment of Oregon
proud of because they
something that they are pr@wd harmed their families
corrections officer and most recently
Corrections
ely that they ©an show th e ir
oversaw Oregon Youth Authority.
Enterprises and
or other people. So
He said when he took the job with OCE,
made 13
fam ilies, It re a lly makes an
when they start having
“it was kind of in a crisis mode.”
recommendations its im p a ct,"
something that they
In the two years he’s been at the helm of
authors believed
are proud of, that they
the agency, he’s boosted revenue by 24
would allow the
f f l g i __ I ’
- r H W JESKE can show their families, '
O R E G O N C O R R EC TIO N S ENTERPRISES
percent and moved it into the 21st century
agency to expand its
it really makes an
with the addition of e-commerce and *
programs and double
impact.”
electronic marketing, and he hired a new
or triple its capacity
While Oregon
business development manager.
by 2022.
Corrections
In 2015, OCE businesses brought in
Enterprises is growing, most working
The report pointed out that with an
$25.6 million in revenue, a revenue record
inmate workforce of 1,200 at the time of the
inmates are assigned to Department of
for the second year in a row.
Corrections jobs in work programs overseen
analysis, only 10 percent of the work-eligible
But the agency isn’t rolling in dough.
inmate population was assigned to Oregon
by Angelozzi.
Many of the manufacturing programs are
Corrections Enterprises programs, and
Whether it’s a janitor job or a kitchen job
supported by profits from the call centers
many were lower-risk inmates which led to
or a maintenance crew job, it gives the
and laundries, but Jeske said he wants to
lower turnover.
inmates skifis that they need,” she said.
keep them operating because they help
Part of this has to do with eligibility
inmates gain useful skills.
requirements. To work for Oregon
Room for improvement
“We keep getting hit with PERS (Public
Corrections Enterprises, an inmate must
While many of Oregon’s inmates work full
A n Oregon State Penitentiary inmate in training in the prison's educational autoshop.