RecycleForce, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in Indianapolis, has been operating for 16 years as an employment social enterprise (ESE). A social enterprise, a business with a social mission, applies commercial strategies to maximize social impact. An ESE embeds a transitional jobs program into its social enterprise to more effective serve marginalized populations. The ESE guarantees employment for those unlikely to be employed in the competitive job market then transitions these workers to better employment opportunities. RecycleForce calls its ESE the “ABC Model – Any job – Better job – Career.”
RecycleForce predominantly serves adults leaving state and federal prisons who are at moderate- to high-risk to return to prison. The overarching goal of RecycleForce is to increase employment opportunities and wage-earning potential for low income previously incarcerated workers. With few exceptions, these returning citizens are coming home to high poverty, high crime areas of our city. Over the last 16 years, we have served nearly 2000 individuals through our electronic recycling ESE. All program participants come through referrals from our criminal justice partners, ensuring we serve the most in need. These referral sources – parole, probation, community corrections, work release – assist those under their client in securing employment while also adhering to the reentry mandates of the court. For the hardest to employ, we become the referral spot.
The ABC Model – Any job – Better job – Career consists of immediate attachment to a $10/hour wage-paying transitional job. This A component of the model includes a flexible schedule to accommodate criminal justice oversight requirements as well as the opportunity to work on high school equivalency and earn industry-recognized credentials during the paid workday. Credentials that can be earned onsite include OSHA 10, an 8-hour Resource Conservation and Recovery Act certification, HAZWOPER 40, Powered Industrial Truck Operator, Certified Logistics Associate, and EPA 608. We work with our local workforce investment board to help participants secure more advance training using WIOA funds, like earning a CDL or a welding certification. We couple this transitional work and training with mentoring, tailored wraparound services, employability skill building, job placement assistance, and post-placement follow-up. The Any job – a returning citizen’s first step on the employment ladder – lasts 4 to 6 months and is subsidized by federal transitional jobs grants and local contracts.
When the transitional component of employment ends, most workers have gained additional skills, credentials, and work acumen valued in the competitive labor market; however, the criminal background and continuing criminal justice oversight mandates severely limit employment opportunities. RecycleForce has developed a unique feature of its model to address this issue – the Better job. Keys2Work, our alternative staffing partner, provides flexible temporary work for those who still have criminal justice oversight mandates and/or need to complete education and credential programs begun while in the transitional job. The Better job provides access to the next rung on the employment ladder. Many companies use temp agencies to “try before they buy” by bringing in temp workers and offering permanent positions to those they want to keep. These positions are not subsidized jobs. In addition to traditional job development activities, Keys2Work provides ancillary services to assist with job attachment and, as needed, re-placement to help ensure success in the Better job.
The final component of the ABC Model – Career – occurs in several ways. Keys2Work has private employers that hire from the cadre of temp workers, but some of the most promising positions are with city government and contractors who provide public services. Indianapolis Department of Public Works (DPW), for example, employs RecycleForce participants for temp workers through its contract with Keys2Work. When positions open at DPW, these Better job workers are given first chance to fill $20 per hour union jobs. Keys2Work also contracts with private companies whose work is related to city or state infrastructure. By employing these Better job workers on a temp-to-perm basis, employers can see these non-traditional workers in action before deciding on the permanent hire.
For some, the Career component of the model is the permanent position from these temp and temp-to-perm hires. For others, they have earned valuable work experience and credentials during which time their oversight obligations have diminished or concluded. They are prepared to enter the competitive job market in logistics, construction, metal fabrication, and recycling companies in jobs in paying $12-$15+/hour, and RecycleForce and Keys2Work stand ready to assist in these endeavors.
For the low income high-risk to recidivate population, work and coordinated workforce development services must stand at the center of reentry. RecycleForce’s work first strategy coupled with the ABC Model is supported by consistent outcomes that few programs have achieved. RecycleForce participated in a random control trial (RCT) through the US DOL Enhanced Transitional Jobs Demonstration project. RecycleForce’s three-year impacts show statistically significant outcomes in return to prison, days in jail for technical rule violations, employment rate, and earnings. Increasing employment and wages for this population is a proven crime reduction strategy and the RCT study shows the model has promise as our country works to end mass incarceration and enhance second chances for everyone.
The ABC Model includes other unique and important features, such as the daily Circle of Trust and the peer mentor program. Watch for Program Director Rhonda Shipley’s upcoming blog post to learn about them.