Program offers parolees second chance
Academy gives men direction, life skills

POMONA - A new program designed to provide life and job skills to young parolees is instilling a sense of direction and hope for men who may have had very little of either in the past. Renford Reese, political science professor at Cal Poly Pomona and instructor at the Reintegration Academy, said a recent job fair opened academy members' eyes to employment prospects. "The people there were poised to hire my guys," Reese said.

Representatives from UPS, Best Buy and Flame Broiler, among other businesses, were recently on hand to speak with the men. "We had 10 companies that showed up," Reese said. "Seven of them poised to hire. The other ones were there to network and give them advice," on interview techniques and networking, Reese said.

The reintegration program takes 20 male parolees, ages 18 to 25, and puts them through 10 weeks of academics and life-skills training. The academy goal is to take young, nonviolent offenders and give them skills so they do not revert to criminal behavior, according to a news release about the program. Participants must be a parolee in the San Gabriel Valley area, they cannot have been convicted of a crime using a weapon, and they cannot have been convicted of a sex offense.

The program is funded through a grant from the Pomona Transcendence Children and Family Services Organization. This is the first year of the program's existence. The academy is housed on Cal Poly's campus,but it is not sponsored by the college, nor is it an official college program, Reese explained. All 20 of the young men enrolled in the program have also now been enrolled in nearby community colleges.

Throughout the program, Reese has speakers from all academic disciplines talk to participants, so the men will have enough information to decide what kind of career path to follow, Reese said. Participants are also given a meal card, so they can eat wherever they like on campus. The men in the program are accompanied by student volunteers when not in the classroom, Reese said.

Even the meal breaks are part of the lessons the men are learning, Reese said. "I think just being in this environment can be as transformative as any lecture," he said. After meals, the program participants are given career training. They are trained on proper interview techniques, how to conduct a job search and how to write a resume, Reese said.

Alvaro Enriquez, 20, of Pomona is one of the program participants. He said he is looking forward to his graduation next week from the program. "I am (excited), actually," he said during a phone interview. "I had a little bumpy road, but I've come this far, and I think I can go even farther." Enriquez hopes to take business classes in order to one day open and run his own business. He has also discovered an interest in how government works and will take some political science classes. In addition, the 20-year-old would like to get a contractor's license. This is the type of motivation Reese hopes the program will continue to inspire. That motivation was especially prevalent during the job fair.

"You can see the growth of the guys," Reese said. "They saw that someone was coming out to see them. I've seen their confidence grow."