EMPLOYMENT & FINANCES
“GET A JOB!”
That’s what everyone in and out of incarceration has heard, over and over, for too many years.
This role is dedicated to helping your incarcerated friend not be bullied by that voice, and instead slowly work on all of their reentry tasks as their full time job the first month. From there, you can help them transition smoothly into a solid, good-quality job that you’ll be scouting out ahead of time together. You can also help protect their new income from common threats, ensuring it directly fuels the new life they’ve been waiting for.
START THE CONVERSATION
Your employment work the next couple months is simply conversation with your incarcerated friend, through your letters and phone calls, about the following topics:
FIRST JOB: THEIR OWN REENTRY
We covered this in the last module, and it’s worth repeating with your releasing friend: the goodness of the One Parish One Prisoner model is that they don’t have to scramble into a job right away. Your team can help with up to the first three months’ rent because their full-time job for the first month is their reentry. You get to be the voice that helps them unplug from anxiety. “First month: we’ve got you, focus on setting up your life, getting to a dozen different appointments, adjusting to life on the outside.”
ODD JOBS
Because it feels good to be productive and have some loose cash for personal spending, we’ve found an odd job or two for people in the parish is gold – like an elderly lady in the church who could use some wood stacked or a lawn mowed or gutters cleaned. Let your friend know you’ll be putting the word out to your team and pastor to find some small jobs where they can earn a little money but not have to lock into a full-on employment situation. This is a chance to connect with more people in your congregation and community.
You can help clarify what the rate of pay will be, confirm that this amount seems fair to your friend, and make sure they are paid that same day the work is done. Feeling slighted is a terrible way to begin working together. Too many releasing folks have been used in the past. We want to create new experiences where they feel dignified, respected, and valued.
EMPLOYMENT INTERESTS
Ask your friend what kinds of jobs might interest them when they step into full-time employment in their second or third month out. You’re their support to explore this exciting horizon together.
Instead of scrambling for any employer that’s currently hiring, assure them you have the time right now to make a better plan and honor their interests.
Do they have a certificate or training from their years inside the prison that they’d like to use on the outside, like plumbing, electrical, carpentry? Computer programming? Food services?
Having no training is ok too. What are they simply interested in pursuing? What seems intriguing and engaging?
Take notes. Tell them you’ll get to work starting some conversations in the parish and within your networks.
DEPARTMENT OF CONNECTIONS
Your parish connections and community networks are your treasure. Remember, your friend is stepping out of the Department of Corrections and into something so much better: we are the Department of Connections.
EMPLOYERS IN YOUR PARISH
Much of your work will be reaching out to people in the church: Who are the employers in your parish? Do any of them have the kinds of positions that would suit your releasing friend? This is a great opportunity to broadcast the need in a church bulletin or during a worship service, and follow up with people in your community.
Tell them about your friend. Their skills and interests. Show them a picture, a letter.
Show them these videos:
ONE PARISH ONE PRISONER & UNDERGROUND VISION
RESURRECTION EMPLOYEMENT
You are an ambassador. You’re inviting people outside your team into this journey with you. Their company can be a vital part of local ministry, and your friend’s resurrection from the old life. Tell the employer your team is behind this prospective employee, giving them the support they need to thrive.
You can bring interested employers to a monthly Team Meeting. This is how we grow: opening new relationships and new doors.
ODD JOBS
Same with the smaller, odd jobs. When the estimated release date is getting closer, put feelers out for who might need yard maintenance or property projects. Low pressure, low risk, high rate of connecting and feeling good. Warmup work. Cash payment, agreed on beforehand.
RESUME
One of our recent One Parish One Prisoner graduates is now home from over a decade in prison and working as an engineer with a local tiny-home manufacturer. He recently advised us: “It would have been cool if your program got folks on my Team to work on a resume with me while I was still locked up.”
So here it is! As the Employment & Finances Lead, work on drafting up a resume together. We don’t have a template but there are a thousand online.
Some suggestions:
Emphasize strengths: i.e. resilient when facing setbacks, loyal to a team, hard working, solutions-focused
List any in-prison jobs, with titles: i.e. State of Washington, Twin Rivers Unit
Strongly consider a cover letter that states you are currently incarcerated, focused on a specific job path, briefly own your past crime and mistakes and now current preparation to build a future with the right company
UNDERGROUND EMPLOYMENT MODEL
As you talk with potential employers in your area, you might consider using Underground Ministries’ Underground Employment Model. It’s a helpful template that outlines three crucial partners:
Reentering Employee
Quality Employer
Support Organization
On the webpage, the Employer can see a detailed model that spells out the process and the players, which in turn increases trust and understanding in this opportunity. The Employer can agree to a 90-day onramp period, accommodating the Employee’s probation appointments, treatment class schedule, and driver’s license tests, allowing the Employee to be a solid member of the company after the initial 90-days.
Your One Parish One Prisoner Team make up the Support Org: sponsoring/referring this Employee, brokering trust, and committing to ongoing reentry support for the Employee the first three months.
CHILD SUPPORT
For our releasing friends who are parents, once they finally get a stable, legitimate job and their first check arrives, half of it has been garnished for Child Support. Too many reentering individuals lose heart seeing their first check cut in half and go back to street income.
The solution is relatively easy. Child Support only takes half the income if the parent hasn’t set up a plan with them first. Sit down with your reentering friend and call the local Child Support office together (on speakerphone, for moral support, if you want). Your friend can say: “Hi, my name is ___________, I am fresh out of prison and just starting a new job at ____________). I’d like to set up a minimum monthly payment plan to be taken out of my checks. I’m barely able to pay rent right now, but I’d like to start paying my debt at the smallest amount possible for the next six months, if that’s OK.” The Child Support Enforcement Officer usually appreciates a parent taking initiative, not hiding from the system, and offers a low payment. $50-75/mo taken out of their checks is much different than $950/mo!
Voila. You’re rolling away these stones that keep millions of parents in the underground.
OTHER WAGE GARNISHMENTS
Child support isn't the only thing wages are garnished for. There’s also spousal support, student loans, consumer debt, and taxes, to name a few.
Do the same thing as above: reach out to the agency that is garnishing the wages and ask if you can set up a minimum monthly payment plan. Let them know you want to be responsible for your debt but need to pay it off a little at a time.
BANK ACCOUNT
If you haven’t set up a checking account at a bank yet, now’s the time. It might be your friend’s first time having money in a bank—where their income can grow, with a savings account, rather than just a wad of cash in their wallet that goes . . . well, we know how fast cash goes.
And now that you’ve set up a payment plan with Child Support, they won’t seize money deposited in a bank!
You might want to help your friend set up Direct Deposit between their job and their bank.
BUDGETING
This is the last part of your role! Congratulations to you, your team, and your releasing friend for getting this far.
We don’t offer a template or a class on budgeting, but just sitting down and typing up a simple INCOME vs. EXPENSES grid of costs each month is a massive step towards financial literacy. The same way a calendar can profoundly help a reentering individual take control of all the commitments in their life, so a simple budget will likely feel like a profound new tool to help them feel more in control of where they want each dollar they earn to go.
Start with Essentials: Rent, Car Insurance, Court payments, Groceries, Gas.
Then see how much is left for OtherCosts: Clothes, Eating Out, Fun with Kids.
What about Savings Goals? Newer Car, Down payment for Better Apartment, Trip to See Grandma, etc.
So many people we’ve accompanied get a good job with steady income, but feel discouraged and broke at the end of the month when there’s just no money left. They’ve never had help learning how to budget for essential costs and prioritize their spending. Let’s change that!
Remember that letting someone look at your income and spending habits feels very vulnerable. Hopefully you’ve built enough trust working on Employment and Finances together over these months that help with budgeting feels natural.
Congratulations!
Always find ways to celebrate together. Our friends leaving prison have been punished for thousands of missteps, but rarely celebrated for their courageous new steps. Send a text. Share a hug. Meals and ice cream are always best.