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Workforce, Inc.

Indianapolis, IN

Workforce, Inc. (WFI) operates as a social enterprise a business with a social mission.Their stated mission is two-fold: 1) become the most comprehensive recycling hub inIndianapolis, Indiana and 2) help those returning from prison have immediate,legitimate earnings combined with a broad array of social supports. In 2006, WFIstarted providing transitional jobs for recently released offenders in the emergingelectronic waste recycling industry. This program seeks to keep as much electronicwaste as possible out of landfills and recover the waste in a way it can be re-used inindustry. WFI was the first recycler in the state to complete the stringent registrationprocess for e-waste recycling developed by the Indiana Department of Environmental

Management. The City of Indianapolis contracts with WFI to handle electronic wastecollected at Tox Drop events and the State sends a portion of its end-of life-electronicsto WFI. Since 2006, the program has employed 287 people, paid near $1.75 million inwages and only 17% of participants have been returned to prison. For employees whoowe child support, they pay an average of over $1,300 in child support during the sixmonths of transitional employment.

This case study is current as of May 2010. For more information, visit www.work-force-inc.com or contact Gregg Keesling gkeesling@work-force-inc.com.

Community Served Workforce, Inc. exclusively serves offenders who have beenreleased from incarceration within the prior 60 days. Participants,

referred primarily through community corrections, parole, andprobation, are virtually unemployable in the private sector.WFI estimates that approximately 65% of their participants sinceprogram inception have no legitimate work history. A program oftransitional employment is their best and perhaps only shot atsecuring employment paying a livable wage in the mainstreameconomy.WFIs recent participant demographics: 68% African American, 29% White, 2% Hispanic, 1% Native

American 15% released from jail, 85% from prison 65% did not graduate from high school. Indianapolis Public

Schools has one of the highest dropout rates in the country.Number ofParticipants Served

About 40+ at a time and over 100 per year WFI estimates they have enough product to serve over 200

participants a year, but would need more funding to do so.

Support ServicesOffered

WFI provides supportive services to program participantsthrough an Employee Assistance Program that operates under themantra of "Work Responsibility Reward." WFI is committed to

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the principle that work and responsibility create their own

rewards and thus emphasizes this principle with their participantsby rewarding behaviors they wish to encourage. Approximately95 percent of these funds are spent on transportation (generallybus passes), mandated court costs and probation fees, attorneyfees, participants' rent, and work clothing.

Green TransitionalJobs

Participants are employed in WFIs transitional jobs program forup to six months where they work in the electric waste recyclingindustry and other recycling including cardboard, plastics andaluminum. Since 2009, WFI has processed 100 tons of cardboard attheir Chancellor A. Keesling Community Recycling Facility.WFI enables participants to gain marketable job skills: using small

tools, material handling, problem-solving, loading and unloadingtrucks and pallets, and certifications in Hazardous Materials andForklift Safety. The WFI program stresses the importance ofbuilding a credible work history, learning to come to work eachday on time, working with others, and adjusting to a workregimen. WFI also focuses on developing the social capital ofparticipants by encouraging them to interact with communityleaders, community projects, judges, probation officers, and childsupport officials. This helps others see the participant in adifferent light.A typical day involves six to seven hours of paid work and one totwo hours of release time for participation in activities that

address specific barriers to successful reentry, such as basiceducation classes, job training, drug/alcohol or other treatment,and scheduled appointments (i.e., court appearances, meetingswith probation officers). While enrolled in the transitional jobsprogram, recent participants have earned an average of $5,805 andpaid an average of $876 in taxes.

Key Partners Job training Some clients attend the local Community College. The State of Indiana gave WFI a KeyTrain license, a system for

improving basic workplace skills that leads to a NationalCareer Readiness Certification. 38 participants have become

eligible for this certification while working at WFI. National Transitional Jobs Network The Japanese companies, Philo Metals and the Mitsui

Corporation, buy WFIs gold materials and understands theirsocial mission. Dr. Tetsuyuki Koizumi attends reentrymeetings and helps the workers understand their role in theglobal economy. He helps the workers think of electronicwaste as an American raw material. (There is more gold in aton of electronic waste than in 55 tons of gold ore.) The

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workers value add value to this raw material by separating it

from the plastic, steel, copper and aluminum prior to shippingto and processing in Japan

State of Indiana Child Support EnforcementSupport Services WFI participates in a Federal Office of Child Support

Enforcement project that allows for child support arrearageowed to the state that accrued while the employee wasincarcerated to be waived. Furthermore this project helps thecourt to set realistic current orders when the employee isreleased.

Eligibility WFIs programs are open to all who have been released fromincarceration within the prior 60 days. There are no restrictionson crimes, in fact some of the most successful workers havecommitted the most serious crimes.

Funding Private sector revenue from selling recycled material Grants Government contracts, including probation and work release

facilities. In 2008, Workforce, Inc. (WFI) was awarded a Federal Job

Opportunities for Low Income Individuals (JOLI) grant toserve 48 persons re-entering the community from prison via itssocial enterprise, Remaking our Resources.

Data Tracking WFI uses excel and case files to track:1. Number of participants who complete the transitional job

program and secure full-time employment in the mainstreameconomy.

2. For those with child support orders and arrearages, the abilityto work out child support modifications, establish regularsupport payments, and re-connect with their child(ren) andcustodial parent (if desired).

3. Number of participants who develop work readiness skills andbecome eligible for National Career Readiness Certification.

4. Number of participants who do not return to prison.EmployerIncentives

WFI uses Work Opportunity Tax Credits, but finds theireffectiveness to be limited since employers of late do not havesignificant taxable income and employers do not have a strongneed for the credit. WFI also uses a professional employerorganization (PEO) that is is eligible for the WOTC tax credit. Inpast years the PEO has donated back to WFI portions of thesecredits to help fund the program.

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Transitioning to

UnsubsidizedEmployment

Ongoing assistance is provided to find steady employment at

sustainable wages and follow-up is provided once participants areemployed in the community. WFI tracks participants for sixmonths after leaving the program and continues to provide careerservices and support to promote work attachment.Nearly 50% of recent participants have transitioned intopermanent jobs, which include positions in retail, construction,manufacturing, recycling, nonprofit, and general labor. Of those,32% have achieved six-month retention in their employment andanother 42% are still on track to do so Transitions have declinedfrom 65% in 2007 and 2008 due to the worsening economicsituation in Indiana.