Green Reentry

The Wall Street Journal published this story today on a program in Los Angeles to retrain former gang members in the emerging "green collar" workforce. Research studies on desistence from crime have found that employment is a key factor in lowering recidivism rates among ex-offenders. Programs to help ex-offenders with job search and skills training have existed for decades, though my experience working for one speaks to a frequent dearth of funding and staff to support widespread access. This particular program intrigues me for two reasons:

• The attempt to get ex-offenders on "the cutting edge" of the job market. Most job programs I'm familiar with, in and outside of prison walls train ex-offenders in industrial manufacturing or construction skills (ask me about my client who was well-trained in the dying art of industrial underwear sewing after his 10 year stint in the Big House). There seems to be adequate evidence that the job market for such skills in the U.S. is waning, if not dead. But solar panels and other "green" technologies? Now there's something to think about.
• The mix of "regular folks" and ex-offenders in the program. According to the article, the demand for training in solar panel technology has led to enrollment in the program by both ex-offenders and those without criminal backgrounds, as the following quotes illustrate: "After months searching for a training program, Mr. Chung decided the Homeboy course would give him the skills he needed. But when he informed his wife that most of his classmates would be ex-felons, she was worried. "I told her, 'Honey, just give me a week to try and see,' " he recalls. On his first day, he says a fellow student asked: "What were you in for?" Mr. Chung, a 45-year-old Malaysian immigrant, didn't understand. "I asked him to repeat the question."" and
  

  "Doug Lincoln, 61, who once managed luxury-car dealerships, was offered admission to the Homeboy course after he inquired about a faster-paced class. On hearing it was mainly for ex-cons, "I thought it was a joke," he says.

  Now, Mr. Lincoln is about to graduate. He plans to start a solar-panel-installation firm, he says, and hire some of his former Homeboy classmates. "These guys are more motivated than hundreds of employees I've managed," in the car business, he says."

Such intermingling of those with and without criminal records in training strikes me as beneficial for both groups. Perhaps such exposure could lead to a breakdown in stigma and the opening of networks that might have otherwise remained disconnected.