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Deondrea Washington, a 27-year-old from Foster City, knew he wanted to find a job upon his upcoming release from jail. But he worried that his record might stand in the way.
“I did a lot of stuff in my juveniles time that I have been judged for before,” he said. “So it kind of makes it hard for us to go out there and try to get a job.”
When he found out about the correctional center’s first in-house career fair, that changed the equation, he said.
“They know our situation already,” he said, of the potential employers who’d be attending the event. “They know we're in custody. We don't have to try to hide anything. So it kind of gives us that opportunity to be ourselves and just be relaxed and ready to jump back in.”
Washington was one of eight inmates—and five employers—who gathered on Tuesday afternoon in the open-air meeting room of the Maple Street Correctional Center for the inaugural ASPIRE Employment Opportunity Fair.
Dressed in tailored suits and resumes in-hand, the participants of the county’s first-ever internal job fair were welcomed by Sheriff Carlos Bolanos before filing into the adjacent room for a series of short interviews.
Bolanos applauded the job-seekers and heralded employment as a “fundamental building block” for re-entering society. Addressing the men directly, he added, “I wish you the best of luck, and remember to smile.”
The job fair was open to anyone scheduled to be released from jail in 30 to 90 days. Though 16 current inmates were eligible for the fair, only eight elected to attend.
For some of the job-seekers, like Nicholas Blaine, 41, this would be their first formal job interview. Blaine, who grew up in Redwood City, has never held a real job and spent the majority of his life in and out of jail.
“Jail’s no fun no more,” he said, adding that he decided to participate in the job fair for a change of pace. “As long as it keeps me busy and out of trouble, I’m willing to try anything.”
Representatives from Starbucks, Action Towing, Urban Logistix/Worldwide, Goodwill and Trader Joe’s were in attendance, conducting interviews with all eight men.
One such employer was Dave Uziel, chief executive officer of his family business Urban Logistix/Worldwide, which operates as both an Amazon fulfillment center and private limo service. A former police officer, Uziel said he is empathetic to the challenge facing formerly incarcerated job-seekers and believes his business is an ideal place for them to get back on their feet.
“It’s the perfect segue,” he said. “You’re in the van by yourself, there’s no boss bothering you…it’s their chance to reacclimate without being forced to be really social.”
Uziel offers a starting salary of $22 per hour, with full benefits after 30 days, and is in the process of setting up a 401k with Amazon. His policy is to hire people with misdemeanors older than three years and felonies older than seven years as long as they have a clean driving record—and he only looks at criminal history after making a decision to hire. He said he particularly appreciates his workers who were formerly incarcerated.
“They’re phenomenal workers because all they want is a second chance,” he said.
In the weeks leading up to the fair, the inmates were given the opportunity to craft their resumes, participate in mock interviews and get fitted for professional suits. The sessions were led by employees from JobTrain, a local nonprofit that partners with the jail to provide training in job readiness, culinary arts, computer literacy and other vocations.
“What we are doing inside the jails [in San Mateo County], I don’t know another county facility that’s doing this,” said Art Taylor, chief strategy officer at JobTrain.
As a result of several state-wide legislation changes—including Prop 47, which recategorized some nonviolent offenses as misdemeanors instead of felonies, and Assembly Bill 109, which changed sentencing for low-level offenders—many inmates were relocated from state prisons and are serving longer sentences at county jails instead. As a result, Taylor said, programs like his are thriving, and more needed than ever.
According to Melissa Wagner, director of the facility’s Program Services Unit, one of the biggest challenges was finding employers who would participate. Though they’d partnered with businesses in the past for external events, this was their first time inviting them into the jail to interview people still in custody.
“We had a few of our staff that just started calling,” Wagner said. “We made a list of the individual companies that participated through the county-wide job fair, like Amazon, Starbucks, we thought UPS would partner with us, but they said not at this time.”
Ultimately, they were able to recruit five businesses that Wagner wants to use as a model for future events.
“Although it's a smaller scale employment opportunity fair, we’re hoping that when people read about it and see it, they will be willing to expand and they'll also be willing to be part of this the next time.”
In addition to helping inmates prepare to reenter the workforce, Taylor and his staff are actively working with employers to establish more transparent and inclusive hiring requirements and create more opportunities for the formerly incarcerated.
He’s hopeful that more businesses will become “background-friendly” and that, as societal perceptions change, finding stable employment will become increasingly streamlined for people with criminal histories.
“I think it’s really shifting,” he said.
Despite initial nerves, and some discomfort in his too-tight suit, Washington said he enjoyed the interview process and was hopeful it would lead to a job opportunity. He especially liked talking with Uziel about his driving business.
“He was telling us that he wouldn't judge on our past,” Washington said. “He knows how we're feeling.”
