By Marianne Diaz
We’ve all heard the African proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Likewise, when that child becomes an adult and is incarcerated, it takes a team to help get that now grown child back on track. According to experts, one in four Americans have a criminal record (64.6 million) and of those, 19.8 million have at least one felony criminal conviction. This statistic has had far-reaching economic consequences as people with criminal records are marginalized within the labor market.
From ages 18-22, I was gang related and ultimately incarcerated. I received my GED in prison and when I was released, I was job mandated by the courts. My arresting officer recommended me to the head of a county gang intervention program—and those two men became the foundation of my “team. I attended an 8-week, 8-hour per day training session for youth gang services and that became my first job.
Let’s consider some key findings of a RAND research report from one program focused on the construction industry intended to improve the earning potential of individuals on probation in Sacramento County, California. The study underscores the vital need for a “team approach.”
The report states that in order to have an effective employment program for ex-offenders, it’s important that the program develop relationships with service providers and employers to ensure that probationers have access to a full range of support. The program must maintain “a positive reputation with prospective employers to ensure ongoing job opportunities” and “highly skilled instructors and dedicated staff allows for customized instruction and readily available support.” The researchers also note the importance of providing onsite drug treatment services to help probationers with substance abuse problems.
But these are not the only “team members” that can have an impact. Other types of support that probationers, seeking employment may need include mental health services, transportation assistance, and help getting IDs and licenses, to name a few.
I knew from experience that you can’t take away the power, recognition of being part of a community that being a gang member provides and replace it with a job at McDonald’s. But, if you started out with a job like I did, paying $1800.00 a month, you might consider not returning to prison. Ironically, I received ongoing and extensive training. to provide gang intervention therapy. But since I’m an ex-felon, I couldn’t get a license to be a therapist. Still, that didn’t discourage or prevent me from becoming the Director of the Southern California Counseling Center where I oversee the training of licensed therapists. Bottom line, as verified by the RAND Report, “Teamwork really does make the dream work.”
About the author: Introduced to gang life at an early age, Marianne Diaz discovered she had a gift for recruiting and violent enforcement. After spending multiple stints in county jail for gang related offenses, she was referred to Community Youth Gang services, where she trained as a counselor and worked for the next 15 years. Marianne ultimately became the Regional Director of this eight million dollar organization and went on from there to become director of the Southern California Counseling Center, a non-profit community mental health agency and training facility for MFT’s, Ph. D’s, LCSW’s and para-professional therapists She’s also the director and founder of the SCCC-WATTS Outreach Services, agency wide and founder of “Operation Clean Slate,” offering tattoo removal and other support / training services to former gang members and ex-offenders.
