Intensive Re-entry Program

“We don’t hire people because they are ex-offenders,
we hire people because they’re most qualified,”
in the February 2012 edition of HR Magazine in an
article by Eric Krell, “Consider the Risks –
And Rewards – of Hiring Ex Offenders. 

“It takes courage to grow up. It takes thought to make a change. Willpower, dignity, growth, and strength play a major role in life. You have to know yourself, who you are, and what you stand for. You are your own best friend as well as your own worst enemy…. We are the Cognitive Community”, a powerful quote from the Intensive Re-Entry Program brochure at Coffeewood Correctional Center. 

Phase II of the Re-Entry Program is called Cognitive Community & Release Preparation, and is implemented in the final 6 months of an offender’s term. The program is further described as “the stepping stone in the returning citizen’s release process.”  Among the components of the program during the twenty-four weeks is a proactive career readiness training.

In addition to the Intensive Re-entry Program, Coffeewood Correctional Center also trains the inmates in several vocational skills. They are trained in forms of Optometry, small engine repair, and floor covering installation. These are skills that can make them more marketable as they return to the workforce.

Have you considered hiring an ex-offender? Though there are legal, practical, and risk issues to consider, there are ways to reconcile these with great results. Mark Washington, HR Director for the City of Austin, put it well, “We don’t hire people because they are ex-offenders, we hire people because they’re most qualified,” in the February 2012 edition of HR Magazine in an article by Eric Krell, “Consider the Risks – And Rewards – of Hiring Ex Offenders. He goes on to say, “The more productive and employable we can make all of our citizens, the more they can provide to the society they live in.”

We have hosted two speakers from Coffeewood Correctional Center at Culpeper Chamber meetings over the past few weeks. The issue of re-entry employment is always a sensitive subject. There are many questions and sometimes no “certain” answers. However, the need for a business to be aware of the opportunities to give a person a second chance is what community is all about. Many of those re-entering the workforce will not want to locate in Culpeper. However, there are a number that will come back to Culpeper to live, in hopes of restarting their lives. Having a job is a vital part of success.

The workforce specialists at Coffeewood Correctional Center are reaching out to the business community in hopes of establishing partnerships. The Center will be hosting upcoming job fairs. If your business is interested in finding out more about job candidates, please contact Coffeewood Correctional Center in Mitchells, Virginia for more information. Ask about participating in an upcoming job fair to support the re-entry program.

“It takes thought to make a change” – we can make a change one job at a time, allowing willpower, dignity, growth, and strength to play a major role in the life of an ex-offender through job success.

What is going on with social media?

Published in the Culpeper Star Exponent 

Monday, March 19, 2012

What is going on in Social Media today? Who can keep up with the subject? Keeping up with Facebook timelines, Google +, and Twitter are the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Despite the daunting sight of the security questions and options, the lure can be too much to bear. The idea of connecting with associates, companies, and special deals produce an irresistible gravity.

The underlying implications bring a shift towards the need for fast internet. However, the need for fast internet is really becoming a need for fast mobile internet. This may require that a signal needs to have a boost in reception with a “Hot Spot” device. There are fundamental requirements for these to work properly, and yet they can produce a significant increase in the data capacity for phones nearby.

The convergence of social media and fast mobile internet are like chocolate and peanut butter. The combination is too good to be true. We live in the greatest time in history. Our opportunity to connect to information is unprecedented. Our ability to produce information is exponential. We are only limited by our human ability to filter the information for our best use.

As “Digital Immigrants”, those over 35 did not grow up in the digital revolution of cell phones. We remember the rotary phones and the need to stop at a pay phone to make a phone call. Our “Digital Natives” – those who think of an I-Pod as an extension of their ears, have had to discern how to decipher the pace of information intuitively. The pace of information, access to information, and need to filter information is here to stay, much like CD’s replaced the cassette, and I-pods replaced CD’s, and now, smart phones have replaced them all.

As business, it is essential to recognize the new environment. It is also, critical that we adapt our plans to include some of the basics of the new ecosystem. We need to adapt our websites to be first “Mobile Friendly”, “Ipad Friendly”, and finally desk top friendly. The number of mobile users will increase not only domestically, but globally. Business cannot ignore social media as “an option”. Credibility, validity, and visibility will depend on business savvy in mobile environment.

There are no guarantees that this is risk free. In addition, as with anything new or unfamiliar, good business practice demands a risk mitigation strategy. The new world of mobile, social and internet are no exception. Nonetheless, there is reward to those that address the risk with prudent judgment.

The exciting part of this fast paced shift is that opportunity is about learning, adapting, and profiting. This is what business is good at. The digital language can be learned and demystified for those digital immigrants. The digital natives need guidance and maturity.

Placed in this context, nothing has really changed. We are simply encountering change, a constant in business. Learn, adapt, and profit.

Jim Charapich, CEO/President

Culpeper County Chamber of Commerce