Charlie whitaker is president of career path d. C. Which helps returning citizens find jobs and careers. Welcome all of you to our program this morning. Andrew, i would like to begin with you. You became a returning citizen in 2012. Tell us the story of the path from incarceration to owning your own business well. Well, first, after being released in january of 2012 i had a quick rebout with Substance Abuse and theft crime and what ultimately happened i was homeless and on my way to get something to eat one morning. Suicide became the best option, but i knew deep down inside me it wasnt an option so it was at that moment that really turned the tide and i went to go seek some help out and i got help. Charlie whitaker from previous employment as well as at career path and when i approached him about, you know, if youve got a position, fine, if not, you know, i still i still like you, youre my friend. Were friend and when we brought me on, he brought me on as a volunteer that lasted a couple of days because i knew the work and from there ive just been coming to work every day and when the opportunity came up to join aspire entrepreneurship it was really mr. Whitaker that pushed me towards that. Ill be honest. I was comfortable just working and receiving a paycheck, but i do understand that there was so much more. Charlie, let me just go to you next because you actually mentored andrew. Yes, maam, and your Company Works primarily with returning citizens. So andrew came to you and tell us what happened. Andrew is really a humble guy. Andrew has a lot of skills. I really met andrew in like 2007. Andrew was a case manager and we were doing work for development so when i left and started career path d. C. In 2010 andrew came over with me and just like you said he had some issues around Substance Abuse so he left for a while and he came back in 2012, and when he came back he was an asset to the organization so we brought andrew back in, and he began to work with the other guys around the clean and safe work that we do. Through that it helped him get back on track, and i will work with him around, know, issues around when he has things going on where he may feel a little stress or things of that nature, but he has a sponsor, and he also goes to and he follows the process to be successful even though he may have other barriers. And he found someone who believed in him and was willing to invest in him. Yes, maam. Nancy, yours is the federal Agency Responsible for supervising returning citizens, so tell us how the process starts for someone like andrew. Well, actually andrew was under our agency for supervision, and he can tell you a little bit more about his experience with us, but what we do basically is to try to provide opportunities for men and women who are coming out of prison or who are placed in the community by courts for supervision, and our focus really is to help them stabilize their lives. Of course, Public Safety is important and we want to make sure they remain crime free, but our belief is that they are sit cents who deserve opportunity and second chances, that if they take advantage of all that we have to offer involving t educational opportunities, treatment, if thats appropriate, we think that they can become stable and productive citizens of the district of columbia. Our agency is a federal agency, but we have a strictly d. C. Focus so were not national in scope. Were only focused on the district of columbia and men and women under the supervision of the district of columbia. One of the things for successful reentry after incarceration is employment and one of your programs. Its called vote. You target that particular issue. Well, vote was strug toured to provote vocational opportunities, education and training. Were focused on any agency thats focused on those opportunities for men and women. As you know, particularly as d. C. Changes and becomes more and more gentified the is escalating, and its very difficult for the men and women under our supervision sometimes to get into the door for these opportunities. So one of the things that were really interested in is working on entrepreneurship opportunities so that they can start their own businesses which youve heard from our guests about their experiences in that regard, but people like andrew who may relapse into criminality or into Substance Abuse, we believe that at some point they get it, and they really do want to get on the right track as he has done, an they use the services, anything that they can provide them we use them well and we do forward and do well and thats why this is exciting because we want others to have that same feeling of hope, that their future is not defined by their past, that they do have a future. Weve got to take a break. Well continue our talk right after this. Z29kuz zstz y29kuy ysty welcome back. Were talking about reentry this morning and programs here in the district to help returning citizens find jobs and careers, and Andrew Wilson, you own next Level Solutions which you started just last year in 2016. Yes, maam. And your release came in 2012 so youve gotten a lot of job experience in the past couple of years and youre actually working a job and running your own business so tell us about next Level Solutions. I started next Level Solutions llc through the aspire to entrepreneurship sponsored by the local Business Development agency, and im a maintenance and staffing person so what i try to do, if say, for instance, you have a temporary job coming up and you need some laborers or something and you can give me a call and i have some guys thats i also do my focus is Pressure Washing, so if you have a deck, your house, driveway or anything, i will come and if you give me the opportunity, i come and ill pressure wash anything that you need pressure washed. One of the reasons why i chose to make Pressure Washing my focus is because its fairly easy to learn and the young guys from my Old Neighborhood that i work that im working with, i wanted to get an opportunity to learn some things thats not going to be too complicated to get started and branch out on doing your own. Its a struggle sometimes getting business, but at the end of the day i wouldnt have it any other way because i know at some point ill be able to provide a lasting job for somebody. And youre also working a job. You work for career path d. C. Yes, maam. Ll im currently the director of clean and Safe Services and essentially what i do is run the daytoday operations of the 12 contracts that the company have and im to be honest with you, im just having fun. Im having fun at work. Were out in the community. We clean up and things like that, and im having a ball. Charlie, you did for him what it sounds like hes hoping to do for the young guys in the neighborhood, and he says often people dont want to give him an opportunity. Yes. You gave him an opportunity and chose to work in this population. What drew you to returning citizens and why do you feel so passionate about helping them get back on their feet . Im a washingtonian so i grew up at a time in d. C. Where i saw a lot of my friends going back and forth to jail, people dying and things of that nature and getting strung out on drugs, so i just wanted to help. Better place, so when i found out that individuals have an opportunity to work, that that restores pride, that restores hope and thats one thing that we can use to to get our communities back in the order that it should be in, so i just feel like work is one of the basic things that we need so thats just my focus. And i wonder, too, if those who have job skills, learn job skills, i mean thats a resource, you know, thats needed in the community. There are lots of people Walking Around who can make money, what can provide services and pay taxes. Yes. So hiring them actually can help a community. Yes, maam. Most i my guys, you know, who have their children, pay Child Support and pay taxes and pay for their apartments. Some have even bought cars and things of that nature. What we do get individuals back on the path, back on their feet so that they can move on and do Better Things in their lives. Nancy, you and i talked a little bit about returning citizens who are still under supervision and how the science of probation has changed. Talk about that. Well, there used to be an approach that really was waiting for a person under supervision to do something wrong and then sending them back to prison so it was a cycle, recycling them through prison over and over again. The science has changed now so that we now work more closely with the individuals and with our staff to make sure that they get stability opportunities which includes employment, housing, treatment, all kinds of supports that we can put in place to help them get to where they need to go, and we find that thats a lot more successful because it really you know, these are men and women who many times are traumatized over the course of life. They are struggling with Substance Abuse as youve or they are struggling with other issues. Many of them have never had opportunities to really engage again in the american dream, so to speak, and so we believe that they deserve a second chance. They deserve the opportunity to learn skills, to get the support. We try very hard to work with families who are supportive of them but also, as youve heard from charlie and from andrew, its important for them to connect with a network of support. So we also engage with men and women who are setting up after they have returned from prison those kinds of support opportunities so that they can be peer supports to others. We find that thats much more successful. We have 17,000 individuals under our supervision every single year. 11,000 a day. That means 1 in 4 individuals from the district of columbia are under supervision and were were the largest Supervision Agency in the city, so for us its really to use every bit of science to make sure that we, first of all, manage the risk, that in managing the risk we provide men and women with opportunities and we have specially trained staff that work with them on all of the areas that they need help with. All right. Well take a quick break. Well be right back. Tradingin or selling your car, truck or suv . Webuyanycar. Com takes the hassle out of selling in just 3 easy steps. One, get your free online valuation. Two, drive to your local car buying center. And three, walk out with your check in as little as 30 minutes at webuyanycar. Com. Find out how much your car is worth at webuyanycar. Com were talking about returning citizens to jobs and careers, Productive Lives this morning. Andrew, after your release, you went home to your mothers, and that was the turning point for you. Tell us what happened that really sort of changed your life an changed your thinking. Okay. Well, when i came home in 2012, i was coming off of a fourmonth revocation, and i had to turn myself in. Thats a probation violation. Thats a probation violation and what i realize, my cso at that time she literally done everything and anything she could to keep from violating me, right, but thats a matter of perception that i understand today. You mean, she did everything she could to help prevent sending you back. This is your Community Service supervision officers, used to be parole officer. Absolutely. I remember when i got released, my sister came and picked me up from Northern NeckRegional Jail and on the way back up 95 we stopped to get gas and i saw four loco, never had one. Thats a crazy alcoholic drink and i drunk that. By the time i got home i was fit to go seek out some drugs and thats exactly what i some things happened. I took some things out of my mothers how is that i didnt have permission to take, and she put me out. Well, her putting me out was the best thing that ever happened to me because it was at that moment that i was that i felt truly alone and truly at my lowest. Hi nowhere to go, felt unloved, worthless and hopeless. And you wound up homeless. I wound up homeless. Sleeping at Union Station. Slept at Union Station a couple of nights and thats when i found out 5 00, 6 00, coldest time of the morning. Darkest before the dawn. Thats when you decided i dont want to do this, i dont want this life, i dont want to go back. When suicide became an option, living became my only option because i knew i didnt want to die and it was at that moment i made a decision and want this no more. Would you say your story can be an example to others about how, no matter what the circumstances are, because many people face these kinds of champ earnings when they come out. They dont have support systems at home and health care is a problem, housing, education. Did you even have a drivers license . Yeah. I had a drivers license. I got my first drivers license at 30. All right. You had one. It was still valid, thats the word you say. It was still valid. So you were able to get around and get to a job. I didnt have a car. D. C. , i walk anywhere. Charlie, you were a mentor and you mentor people like andrew. Yeah. Whats the message that you want to convey this morning . The message i would like to leave is, you know, theres always hope, regardless of what situation that youre in, that things can change. You just have to look deep inside yourself and decide what do you want to do. What about employers though who are reluctant to employ a returning citizen. Well, i would say to an employer thats reluctant to hire a returning citizen is working with organizations like project empowerment you get some of the best individuals to come to work for you. Why . Because they have support systems, support networks set up, so when things go wrong, im not the only one to deal with this individual. I can call csosa or tony lewis and hell pull the person in and hell talk to him and i can call project empowerment and call Charles Jones and hell pull the business in and for Small Businesses its a real big help because when happens is the training dollars cost so when you have someone else that can do the training for you and then send the individual to you, then you save on that, and also its the subsidy that they individuals like for three to six months, so it again fits the employer financially to bring in an individual who may be a returning citizen that went through these types of programs. All right. Well be right back after this break. Welcome back. Nancy, many areas around the country, many employers, many jurisdictions have ban the box laws. Explain how they have been so efficient. We think its been a great beginning, a great step towards giving men and women the opportunity to get in the front door with an employer to go for an interview process and be considered for a be jo. However, many employers, unfortunately, once they take them through the interview process and they say i like you then they begin to do the background check and if they find that they have had a criminal history in some cases, they will say, well, because of your criminal history we wont be able to bring you on. Now i think the challenge with ban the box is many individuals have committed crimes 20, 30 years ago. They have been incarcerated, paid their douse and are back and gone through all the selfdevelopment that they can to try to get to the point where they can reintegrate and so do you punish them forever or do you begin to give them an opportunity to become a part of the social structure in a constructive way, and so we think that ban the box is a good beginning, but it isnt the end all, and so its up to the employers to appreciate that folks deserve the opportunity and that you cant punish them forever. Andrew, someone gave you a chance and you feel very grateful for that. Absolutely. Like ive experienced in the past trying as a return citizen, and people was like, well, we dont you know, but when given the opportunity, i hit the ground running, like for me i i really dont it doesnt matter what the job entails as long as im able to work. Im going to come to work, every day, and im going to do the best job that i can do. Charlie, thats exactly what you want to hear. Yes, maam, yes, maam, before you hire, exactly what i want to hear and another key thing, like andrew said. He went through this program, and what im noticing is when returning citizens have their own businesses they hire returning citizens so thats another way to get individuals back into the workforce. Charlie whitaker, Andrew Wilson and nancy ware, thank you all for being with us. Good luck to you. And thats your sunday viewpoint. Im pat lawson. News 4 today is next. Y29kwy ysty z29ktz zstz y29kty ysty at 6 00, pushing back isis. Right now on news 4 today, the major new military move and the key warning surrounding a battleground city. And what were finding out about a new version of a travel ban while President Trump narrows down a new National Security adviser. And no winner. The Powerball Jackpot soaring overnight. Well tell you about the next chance youll have to become a multimillionaire. On this sunday morning, we welcome you into news 4 today on this 19th of february. Good morning to you. Im david culver in for adam and angie