Laurence Jones was impressed with what he saw the day he stopped by a YouthBuild USA site in Massachusetts, where a young woman was sanding the walls of a newly constructed house.  He had questions for her about the tool she was using and the process; she rattled off explanation after explanation about what she was doing and why.

Moments like that confirm for Jones that the YouthBuild program is achieving its desired goal: giving young ex-offenders the skills they need to make an honest living in a society where finding a job can be tough, even for people who have never landed on the wrong side of the law. 

Tack a felony conviction onto the resume of someone who already has very little education and the job market for that person shrinks to the point of near non-existence, said Jones, Director of YouthBuild's Criminal Justice Initiative. 

"There are not a whole lot of places for them to turn," he said.

For the past 20 years, YouthBuild and similar organizations, like the Home Builders Institute (HBI), have been trying to change that.

Skills for Success

Both YouthBuild USA and the HBI have programs throughout the country designed to train young ex-offenders, typically between the ages of 16 and 24, in the construction trades.  The idea is to give these youth some education and useful skills that will enable them to get a job and sustain themselves in the community.

"We are trying to not only educate an individual, but we are also trying to train them in a career path," Jones said.

According to Jones, of YouthBuild's 240 programs nationwide, 33 are dedicated specifically to young ex-offenders.  The organization's philosophy is to promote change within these people, from the inside out.

"We are going to try to work on their inner being - who they are as people," said Jones.  "What we try to do is get individuals to be more responsible to themselves, be aware of the community and the stresses the community is under, and see their role as young leaders."

Jones explained that young people who are released from incarceration and return to their neighborhoods can sometimes hurt their own community because they are unable to find a job and make ends meet when they return home.

"When you went in, rent was $350 a month and four or five years later, you get out and [for] that same apartment, you're talking $1,300-$1,400 [a month]," said Jones.  "[And] these guys, they'll be lucky if they can get a minimum wage job."

Because they have trouble finding steady employment that pays enough, some of these ex-offenders become involved in the underground economy of a community, according to Jones.  They sell things like stolen goods and drugs, he said.

"They are hitting their own community," Jones said.  "They are figuring out ways to swindle people, to break into things, to do a number of different things that are illegal, but it's all [because they are in] survival mode."

To prevent young ex-offenders from falling into this pattern of life, YouthBuild helps them obtain a GED, and provides them with on-the-job skills training, to enable them to eventually get a job in the construction field. 

"If you are not giving somebody a skill that they can transition into their own business or look at establishing themselves in their own career path, you are not really doing them a favor," said Jones.

According to Jones, young adults who go through the YouthBuild program, which typically takes about nine months to a year to complete, come out with a driver's license, a first aid license and certifications in safety management and handling hazardous materials, among other areas.

"That tells an employer that you know what you are doing in certain areas of construction," said Jones.

Jones pointed out that YouthBuild participants receive a stipend while they are working in the program.  The organization also aids its participants who wish to go onto college or start their own businesses.  Programs in some states even provide substance abuse counseling and daycare for ex-offenders' children, he said.

"Whatever it is you need to help you succeed, we are willing to do," Jones said.

While the ex-offenders have their needs met and learn skills, such as carpentry, dry walling and roofing, the community benefits, too, Jones added.  YouthBuild participants develop these skills by building homes for community members - so everyone wins.

"When they go out there, they are literally building houses from scratch for low-income people,' said Jones.

While YouthBuild participants give back to the community, so, too, do the young offenders who are part of HBI's Project CRAFT (Community, Restitution, and Apprentice-Focused Training). 

Crafting a Future

Much like the YouthBuild program, Project CRAFT provides youthful offenders with training to enter the construction field.   

"We use the apprenticeship model, in which the young person does some classroom or academic instruction, but the bulk of the learning happens on the job," said Dennis Torbett, Vice President with HBI, the workforce development arm of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

Project CRAFT participants work on construction and remodeling jobs in the community with organizations like Habitat for Humanity, Torbett said.  Like YouthBuild, the program pays offenders for their labor, but he said another benefit is the gift these offenders give back to the community.

"These [are] community restorative justice projects, in which they may be remodeling a home or building a deck for a senior citizen," said Torbett.

Another advantage of the program, according to Torbett, is a link to employment when offenders finish.

"The value of the training is really by the connections that we make for them in the home building industry with jobs," said Torbett.

Torbett said Project CRAFT employs both trainers and staff who are responsible for job development and placement. 

"It's open entry [and] skilled exit," said Torbett.  "Once they have learned the skills that we have identified to become an entry-level carpenter or electrician or maintenance person, they are ready for job placement."

Adding these young people to the construction workforce is beneficial to the offender, because it provides them with steady, honest, employment, but it also helps to keep the construction field afloat.

"Our industry has strongly stated that we need skilled workers," said Torbett.  "We have a shortage in labor.  We need to prepare people for work in the industry," he added.   "It has been a very critical business issue, affecting the way builders and members of our association do business.  It boils down to productivity and, then, profit."

The construction field, with its need for trained personnel, is a good fit for these youthful offenders, Jones pointed out.

"The construction field is one of the most liberal in terms of allowing individuals to get back into it and rebuild their lives," said Jones.

And that's exactly what he hopes these young offenders will do.

"The bottom line is that we are trying to create an environment where it is not a shameful thing to be somebody who makes a living with their hands," said Jones.  "That is OK, as long as you are making a living.  As long as you are being productive, that is a positive thing."

Resources:

YouthBuild http://www.youthbuild.org/

HBI http://www.hbi.org/