Employment, Child Support, Education need to be addressed
Narrative: Phase 3. Is honestly challenging and probably the most difficult because your resiliency will be tested. The challenges of the world will hit you all at once and you will feel as if you’re carrying it all on your shoulders. You will be required to be independent and now other people will place expectations on you that you may or may not be ready for. If you’re not employed by this time then every situation will appear to be magnified. In this phase, you will have to support yourself financially, find transportation, clothe and feed yourself with the pressure of a parole or probation officer on your back. This is why Phase 1 is so important because a lot of these stressors should be eliminated which should make this phase a little lighter.
Getting stable is easier said then done but once stability is accomplished and you have created a solid foundation I wish I could say things will get better but I cannot. I will say that things will be much clearer as to what you can handle and/or manage. I don’t want to sound like a cliché but education is key. I know we heard this a thousand times growing up and honestly many of us never centered our minds around learning anything but without a certificate, diploma, or degree the odds are stacked against you. Employers want to hire someone with specialized knowledge or at the minimum experience and the only way to obtain either of those skills you will need to be educated. Focus on education now while you can and attend all the free courses you can threw the WorkPlace. As you can tell I have listed education first intentionally because most of us come home only concerned or worried about a job believing that a job will make everything better but trust me it doesn’t. More money more problems. A job equals you have money therefore you must meet certain responsibilities such as restitution, fines, and last but not least child support.
Directives: If possible prior to your release or as soon as you get comfortable in the halfway house or your home contact your local unemployment agency to get a listing of all their free courses and sign up. If you’re still incarcerated while you read this begin studying for your GED or taking any free college courses they offer. Take as many as possible because this will help build up your resume as well. The unemployment agency has also received millions of dollars to assist reentering citizens find and maintain employment threw training. Finish your training and then look for work in that field. My opinion is to always get educated in an area that can produce entrepreneurship. Barbers, mechanics, plumbers, painters, electricians, landscapers and carpenters are a few specialized services that require certification but create self employment which equals no one denying you work because of your history. Get educated and then get a job and once a steady job is solidified, for those that have children and are not with their mothers, immediately notify the courts if you owe child support or begin to send and money orders or checks to the mother of your child. I know what you may be thinking and yes you are telling on yourself but remember in this situation the courts already believe you are the type of person that avoids your responsibilities but if you show them otherwise with initiative then they most likely will be more lenient.
☐ Obtain listing of free course
☐ Sign up for GED or courses
☐ Get an email address (once established linkedin page)
☐ Build Resume
☐ Search for work