DEPAR
TMENTOF JUSTICE
NATIONAL
INSTITUTE OFCORR
ECTIONSU.S. Department of Justice
National Institute of Corrections
National Institute of CorrectionsOffender Workforce Development Division
October 2005
Career Resource CenterStaff Handbook
This document was prepared under cooperative agreement #02K67GIW4 from the National Institute of Corrections, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view or opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.
U.S. Department of JusticeNational Institute of Corrections
320 First Street, NWWashington, DC 20534
Morris L. ThigpenDirector
Larry SolomonDeputy Director
John E. MooreAdministrator
Office of Correctional Job Training and Placement
Francina C. CarterProject Manager
National Institute of CorrectionsWorld Wide Web Site
http://www.nicic.org
Career Resource Center
Staff Handbook
2
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Overview of a Career Center Page 3
Chapter 2: Career Clerk Selection and Training Page 12
Chapter 3: Marketing the Services of the Career
Center Page 17
Chapter 4: Evaluating of the Services of the
Career Center Page 22
3
Chapter 1
Staff Handbook
4
Chapter 1: Overview of a Career Center A career center can be defined as a physical place that has staff, services and materials to
assist an individual to learn the process of career decision making and to apply it to the
next and subsequent career choices. Career is defined as a lifestyle concept that involves
a sequence of work or leisure activities in which one engages throughout a lifetime
(Ettinger, 1996).
These concepts and available research on the effectiveness of career centers imply the
following:
• The activities and resources available in the center should foster knowledge of
a career choice process that can be applied again and again in life, not only at
a single point in time, such as release from a correctional facility.
• The activities and resources available in the center should cover at least three
broad areas – information about the self, information about the world of
education and work, and development of job-seeking and retention skills.
Ideally, materials would also be available about life roles other than work –
specifically, information about the roles of spouse, parent, homemaker,
leisurite, and citizen.
• Persons using career centers will profit more from their use if individuals
using the resource materials have the support of trained, effective facilitators.
Purpose and Guidelines for a Career Center
The overall purpose of a career center is to provide a user-friendly atmosphere, high-
quality resource materials, and trained staff members so that individuals become
motivated to assume responsibility for their own career planning and have assistance in
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doing so. This purpose has the highest likelihood of being fulfilled if the following
conditions exist:
• The physical space allocated to the center is generally accessible in the
facility, is attractive in appearance, offers an atmosphere conducive to
learning, and has sufficient space to house the resources and a variety of group
activities comfortably.
• The resources contained in the center are organized in a way that makes sense
to users and relates directly to the career planning process.
• The center staff is trained in facilitative skills and the career planning process
and have detailed knowledge of the resources housed in the center and
available to ex-offenders after release.
• Specific tools – such as a written action plan, career portfolio, and guided self-
help materials – are provided as a framework for use of the services of the
center.
Essential Resources
The career center concept is new in correctional facilities, and the budget for such
services is typically non-existent. Let’s begin by listing minimum resources:
• An assessment tool to measure career interests
There are many such tools in the commercial market, including The Self-
Directed Search and the Interest Profiler. The first is available for a fee from
its publisher, Psychological Assessment Resources (www.parinc.com), and
Form E is recommended because of its lower reading level. The second may
be downloaded free of charge and duplicated from a Department of Labor
website, called O*Net at http://www.onetcenter.org/IP.html. (You may need
to check with your local computer services coordinator before doing this
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download.) One of the discs which you received with this handbook contains
the Interest Profiler software. Either of these assessment inventories provides
a two- or three-letter code that can be used with the manuals that come with
either of these inventories to identify a list of occupations of possible interest
to the person who takes the inventory.
• A copy of a large volume titled Holland Dictionary of Occupational Codes,
also published by Psychological Assessment Resources. Using the code
provided by either of the two interest inventories above, individuals can
identify a much longer list of occupational alternatives than that provided by
the manuals alone.
• One or more copies of the latest version of the Occupational Outlook
Handbook, published by the U.S. Department of Labor every two years. This
book contains very complete descriptions of approximately 250 occupations,
those in which 90% of the population work. Descriptions include work tasks,
education required, employment outlook, national salary range, opportunities
for making a career path, where to get further information, and much more.
• Descriptions and entry requirements for the vocational-technical and other
educational programs available to offenders while in a correctional facility.
• Catalogues and brochures from local community colleges.
• A reference book that lists and describes private vocational-technical schools
in the state
• Reference material about federally-funded financial aid programs
• A reference book that lists and describes four-year colleges in the state
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• Information about apprenticeships and their entry requirements
• Reference books about job-seeking skills, including finding job openings,
completing a job application, writing a resume, and having a job interview
• Reference book(s) about what employers expect of employees and information
about how to keep a job
The Self-Directed Search interest inventory and many of the reference materials listed are
now available as computer software and/or on the Internet. Since the Internet cannot be
used by offenders at this time, print material and computer software are the best two
formats for these materials. Desirably, the center would also contain software such as
Discovering the Internet, copyrighted by the Maryland State Department of Education,
that teaches offenders how to use important websites for career planning after they have
been released from a correctional facility. A copy of this CD can be obtained for $10.00
from the Maryland State Department of Education.
As a part of this project, you have received a set of materials provided by the National
Institute of Corrections that offers some of the core elements of the list of resources cited
above. More specifically, the career center resource package includes the following:
• A master copy of a self-help booklet, called the Career Planning Workbook,
that leads an offender through all the steps of the career planning process –
with explanatory text and worksheets. This booklet may be duplicated for use
with offenders in the career center.
• A CD-ROM that contains computer software to administer and score the
Interest Profiler, a 180-item interest inventory that has been well developed
and researched by the United States Employment Service and is in public
domain.
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• A CD-ROM that contains the Occupational Outlook Handbook, the U.S.
Department of Labor publication that gives comprehensive descriptions of
approximately 250 common occupations.
A Basic List of Resources for a Career Center
Essential
• A specific physical space set aside for the career center
• The center should be large enough to allow offenders to read at tables and search for specific information. Provisions should also be made for space to conduct small group meetings, discussions, and other resource-based or related activities.
• Computer with printer. In order to use the compact discs provided, the computer
must have a CD-ROM drive. The printer may not be accessible to offenders due to security reasons. If this is the case, staff will retrieve printed documents for the offender.
• TV/VCR
• Book shelves for resource material
• Newspaper and local “Job Guide” that has current job listings
• Textbooks and workbooks for offenders to use in approved courses of study
relative to employment
• A list of legal barriers facing people with criminal records relative to the state they are being released to
• Information on starting your own business
• Transition information on housing, money management, educational
opportunities, financial aid opportunities, and life skills. Non-essential but suggested
• Career center location in the vicinity of the education center, library, and law area.
• Material relative to the career development of persons of diversity (i.e. Native
Americans, Hispanic, African-American, gay, aged, etc.)
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• Career development material for use of offenders offenders with learning disabilities (i.e. videos, audiotapes)
• OCJTP Career Center Career Planning Workbook, Career Center Clerk Guide,
and Staff Handbook
• Internet simulation software Career Center Activities
The career center should be the hub for acquiring career information and learning skills
related to accomplishing career development tasks. Thus, it should be a busy place that
provides both individual career assistance and group activities.
Individual career assistance includes services such as the following:
• conducting intake interviews to assess each person’s individual needs related
to center resources
• administering a self-help interest inventory
• helping people find the information they need about occupations, schools,
financial aid, employers, job-seeking skills, apprenticeships, legal
information, and the like
• helping people work through the career planning booklet, called the Career
Planning Workbook, and an action plan provided with this Career Center
Project
• providing one-on-one assistance with completing a job application, writing a
resume, or writing a cover letter
• assisting people you work with to find job openings for which they may apply
while still in a correctional facility
• helping individuals know about services that are available post-release
Group activities that would be desirable in the career center include the following:
• administering a self-help interest inventory to a group of offenders
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• providing instruction about the materials in the library and how to access them
• working with a small group of offenders for instruction and assistance in using
the career planning booklet and action plan provided with the Career Center
Project
• providing instruction about the use of computer software available in the
center, such as assessment instruments, occupational and educational
databases, computer-based guidance and information systems, or software that
provides instruction on use of the Internet upon release
• instructing a group of people about job-seeking skills, such as finding job
openings, completing a job application, preparing a resume and cover letter,
researching an employer, and engaging in a job interview
• holding mock job interviews
• instructing a group about the expectations of the workplace and how to retain
a job
• instructing a group about career planning, that is, making an action plan that
addresses moving from an entry-level job to higher-level positions
• instructing a group about opportunities for further education in and out of a
correctional facility
• participating (playing the role of an employer) in mock job interviews
• helping with arrangements related to having potential employers come to the
center to discuss job possibilities with offenders
Staffing
Data from school, agency, and correctional settings indicate that people make the greatest
gains in acquiring career development skills or making career plans when tools such as
inventories, reference books and other print-based material, computer software, and
videos are supported by trained staff. While individuals may be motivated to seek
information on their own, they are often unable to make the connection between the
information they have acquired and their personal career planning. Trained staff members
are the key to assisting others to use information effectively.
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Ideally, you would have a trained Offender Workforce Development Specialist (OWDS)
in your institution. Also, ideally, you would have a librarian who, with the OWDS, could
plan the physical layout, resources, services, and evaluation of a career center.
Experience in some pilot sites substantiates the fact that there are offenders in your
institution who can be trained to be very effective career clerks to work in the career
center. Adding career clerks would expand the services that could be provided in the
center and could provide effective support for offenders who anticipate release in the near
future.
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Chapter 2
Staff Handbook
13
Chapter 2: Career Clerk Selection and Training
In the previous chapter, the suggestion was made that qualified offenders be trained to
provide the list of individual and group services listed in that chapter. The Office of
Correctional Job Training and Placement is providing support for such an effort by
providing a curriculum for the training of selected offenders in the skills needed to
perform these services. These persons would have the title of career center clerk.
A career center clerk is a screened and trained offender who has specific competencies
that outfit him or her to provide the individual and group services listed in Chapter 1.
Selected offenders with specific characteristics can gain these competencies through a
self-study curriculum.This curriculum is provided in companion pieces in this package,
titled Career Center Clerk Guide and the Facilitator Version of the Career Planning
Workbook.
Prerequisite Skills and Experience
Offenders considered for training as a career center clerk should have the following
knowledge, education, and skills prior to selection for training:
• Interpersonal skills – The single most important ingredient for the
effectiveness of a career center clerk is his or her ability to relate to others in a
positive, motivating way. Persons selected for training should exhibit
respectful “people skills” and effectiveness in working with individuals on a
one-to-one basis and in conducting small group sessions. Candidates should
be mild-tempered, sociable, articulate, and capable of dealing with people of
great diversity in background. The person should be a good role model for
offenders.
• Education – Candidates should have at least a high school diploma or GED
certificate and 10th grade reading level. A college degree in psychology or
personnel work would be even better preparation.
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• Problem-solving skills – Candidates should have skills to assist others to
establish goals, develop alternative solutions to reach goals, and plot out a
step-by-step plan for reaching them.
• Peer ability – Candidates should have the ability to use their personal real-life
experiences to illustrate options to other offenders, to teach others how to sell
themselves to employers, and to teach them how to make a good impression in
job interviews.
• Computer knowledge – Especially if the career center has computers and
software or instructional material on the use of the Internet, candidates should
have good basic computer knowledge and skills.
• Typing skills – Candidates should be able to assist offenders to type forms, job
applications, and resumes.
• Work experience– Candidates should have had some past successful work
experience outside of a correctional facility.
• Special skills – Additional skills – such as ability to speak Spanish, manage
time effectively, speak effectively, and multi-task -- are also desirable.
When selecting candidates, a larger number than needed should be chosen so that there
are back-up trainees in the event that one or more do not work well despite care in
selection and training or are released sooner than anticipated. Further, as diverse (by
gender, racial-ethnic background, age, etc.) a group as possible should be selected.
The training program for career center clerks is comprised of a self-help curriculum
studied and applied under supervision. Part of its content is contained in the booklet
called the Career Center Clerk Guide. The remainder is found in the Facilitator Version
of the Career Planning Guidebook, which provides explanatory material for the career
clerk so that he or she knows how to use the materials in the Career Planning Workbook
with individual offenders or small groups. Individuals who learn this material and
perform well as career center clerks may become eligible for training as career coaches,
an occupation they can pursue in the free world.
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Career center clerks need careful supervision by a librarian, teacher, or OWDS. That
supervision should include at least a monthly evaluation of their ability to work
effectively with offenders, their knowledge of resources in the center, and the feedback
from those to whom they provide service. A suggested form for their evaluation is
included on the next page.
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Career Center Clerk Review Form
Person being reviewed: ____________________________ Date:_______________
Person doing the review: ___________________________
Number of individuals clerk worked with this month: __________
Number of small group sessions held this month:______________
Topics for those sessions: ___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
Other activities clerk has helped with this month: ______________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
Rating of skills exhibited this month (5 = excellent; 4 = very good; 3 = moderate; 2 =
poor; 1 = very poor):
Facilitative skills (relating well to those who seek service): 1 2 3 4 5
Career information skills (knowing library resources well): 1 2 3 4 5
Word processing/technology skills (using computers well): 1 2 3 4 5
Career planning skills (helping people effectively with workbook): 1 2 3 4 5
Instructional skills (facilitating or leading small groups): 1 2 3 4 5
Employability skills (helping others to learn job-seeking skills): 1 2 3 4 5
Assessment skills (administering and using results of inventories): 1 2 3 4 5
Example of a situation or event this month that was handled well: _________________
______________________________________________________________________
Suggestion about how some skill(s) could be improved during the next month: _______
______________________________________________________________________
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Chapter 3
Staff Handbook
18
Chapter 3: Marketing the Services of the Career Center
In order to be effective, service programs and interventions must be marketed and
promoted. In the case of the services of the career center, there are three primary
stakeholders of the services – the facility’s management, offenders themselves, and the
community. These are the audiences to whom marketing and promotion should occur.
The facility, equipment, and materials for the center will become available only if the
correctional facility’s management is convinced of the payoff the center can bring in
terms of improved job placement and retention for ex-offenders. In all likelihood, these
resources will become available only because management personnel have been willing
to write proposals for special funding or to cut some other areas of the facility’s budget to
make funds available. Under this scenario, management personnel must be convinced
that this is a good expenditure and that superiors or colleagues will not see this operation
as a luxury for offenders. Thus, upfront work needs to be done with key decision makers
that includes the following kinds of information:
• Information about successful implementation in other correctional facilities
and the short- and long-term effects of such programs
• Information about the relationship between having a specific career plan and
job placement, job retention, and recidivism
• Information about the direct and indirect cost of the program
• Suggestions about how a career center might be funded
Further, other professionals within the correctional system – such as teachers, the
librarian, case management staff, staff that work in pre-release centers – need to know
about and buy into the career center and its services. Once you provide them with
information about the resources available in the center, they can be strong advocates for
the service with the offenders with whom they work, either encouraging individuals to
take advantage of the service or building its use into the courses, programs, and services
that they provide. Use of the center and its services relates well to all services that have to
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do with transition, employment, education and training, or personal management. The
center’s use can also be logically tied to programs related to drug and alcohol abuse.
As indicated earlier, the library is a logical location for the career center. It is important to
get the librarian on board with the career center concept as doing so offers several
possibilities:
• the potential to expand the resources available because the library already
possesses some of the materials needed and may have funds to acquire more
• the potential to have the librarian as a supervisor of the center clerks
• a way to have assistance with maintaining and updating the hardware and
materials used in the center
• the use of the same space for two related purposes and for the mutual good of
both
• having consistent hours during which both the library and the career center are
open at times when use of the library does not conflict with other
programming
Once permission has been gained to institute a career center and the training of career
center clerks, it is necessary to sell the services to offenders themselves. First, the idea
has to be sold to those you want to attract for training as career center clerks. They must
view the opportunity as positive with promise to help others in the short term and to
develop a personal career path in the long term. Getting the training and the job should be
considered a reward.
The most successful method of marketing the services of the center is to make it the hub
of many activities that attract offenders. A good location for the career center is the
library, especially if offenders have to walk through the career center area on the way to
finding and checking out books. Successful sites have found that it is very important to
use the career center as a place that offers many activities, such as those in the following
list:
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• Career fairs
• Instruction on topics such as writing a resume, finding a job, getting a social
security card or driver’s license, and services offered by referral agencies
• Videos showing information about different kinds of jobs
• Course work of all kinds, including distance learning, independent study,
GED completion, and college courses
• Posting of information that attracts the attention of offenders, such as job
listings and financial aid for training
It is also important to offer the services of the career center in conjunction with courses or
programming being offered by others. For example, instruction about completing a job
application and preparing a resume may be done as a part of the vocational-technical
courses or the GED course. Practicing mock interviews might be done as a part of an
anger management class. Learning to research an occupation or a company might be
included in an English class. Trained career clerks might be utilized by teachers to
provide such instruction.
Making a good selection of the career center clerks will be another solution to the
challenge of marketing career center services. Well-trained and enthusiastic clerks can be
a significant drawing card.
Another solution to the challenge is selecting offenders to receive the first services who
are considered to be leaders by other offenders who are likely to follow their example.
Make a special effort to create good relationships with the first individuals who come in
and to provide outstanding service so that word will spread that the services really are for
the benefit of offenders, not management. Use the correctional facility’s newspaper as a
mouthpiece to have persons you have served talk about the quality and benefit of the
services they have received. If policy allows, bring ex-offenders into the correctional
facility to talk about how the services assisted them to make a successful transition to
work.
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Another audience that must be addressed is the community at large. Many believe that
offenders should be severely punished, not assisted or coddled. Those with this
perspective may view career planning services as an unnecessary fringe and cost to the
taxpayer. For that reason, get coverage in the local media that explains the services and
tells success stories about ex-offenders who were helped by them and have become
productive, tax-paying citizens. Take time to explain the services to local employers,
service clubs, key community college personnel, and collaborative agencies. Publicize
evaluation data that provides support for the career center services.
Through all of these means, the career center can become a very important lifeline for
assisting offenders as they transition out of a correctional facility into the workplace. Its
function is crucial to increasing the probability that ex-offenders can find and retain
satisfying jobs.
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Chapter 4
Staff Handbook
23
Chapter 4: Evaluating the Services of the Career Center
It is always difficult to find time to evaluate the interventions that we provide – because
of time constraints, inadequate budgets, and perhaps lack of expertise about how to do
evaluation. It is important, however, to evaluate career center services for at least three
reasons:
• Developers and deliverers of the services need to know how effective the
services are.
• Developers of the services need to receive user feedback and become
knowledgeable of outcomes in order to improve the services.
• Administrators and community members need to receive data about the
effectiveness of services so that they can determine whether to continue to
allocate resources to them.
Time, budget, and approval constraints of the correctional setting often prohibit pure
scientific evaluation and research. Evaluation of services may be done in more informal
ways, including any combination of the following:
• A sign-in and sign-out log that documents the number of service uses, mean
number of center uses per person, total number of service users, specific
services accessed, and amount of time spent by those to come to the center
• A short evaluation questionnaire completed by each person after using career
center services
• Evaluation of services by supervisors, OWDS, librarian, teachers, case
workers, or any other personnel working collaboratively with the program
• Follow up study of a sample of center users to determine how services
affected job placement and retention
The following pages provide sample questionnaires and worksheets that can be used for
each of these approaches.
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Of course, it is very desirable to make constructive use of the results of evaluation. Data
that suggest changes in the services and resources should be used at the earliest possible
time to modify the design of the center, training of the career center clerks, resources
available, and services offered. Data that show evidence of desirable outcomes of the
career center should be distributed to administrators, media, and stakeholders as soon as
possible. This information is critical to the maintenance and support of the services.
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Career Center Sign-in and Sign-Out Sheet
for _______________ (date)
Name Time in Today’s activity(ies) Time out
_______________________ ______ __________________________ _______
_______________________ ______ __________________________ _______
_______________________ ______ __________________________ _______
_______________________ ______ __________________________ _______
_______________________ ______ __________________________ _______
_______________________ ______ __________________________ _______
_______________________ ______ __________________________ _______
_______________________ ______ __________________________ _______
_______________________ ______ __________________________ _______
_______________________ ______ __________________________ _______
_______________________ ______ __________________________ _______
_______________________ ______ __________________________ _______
_______________________ ______ __________________________ _______
_______________________ ______ __________________________ _______
_______________________ ______ __________________________ _______
_______________________ ______ __________________________ _______
_______________________ ______ __________________________ _______
_______________________ ______ __________________________ _______
_______________________ ______ __________________________ _______
_______________________ ______ __________________________ _______
_______________________ ______ __________________________ _______
_______________________ ______ __________________________ _______
_______________________ ______ __________________________ _______
_______________________ ______ __________________________ _______
_______________________ ______ __________________________ _______
_______________________ ______ __________________________ _______
_______________________ ______ __________________________ _______
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Questionnaire about Career Center Services Please answer each of the following questions. Your answers will help us improve the services of the career center. 1. What did you do in the career center today? ____________________________
________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
2. What did you learn from that activity? _________________________________
________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
3. Would you suggest to your friends that they come to the career center?
If yes, why?______________________________________________________ If no, why?_______________________________________________________
4. Please write anything you would like to about your opinion of the services of the career center.
________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
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Career Center Evaluation Form (for use by administrators or teachers)
Thank you for answering the following questions. Your answers will help us improve the services of the career center. 1. In what ways have you learned about the resources and services of the career
center?
Had a tour by the librarian (or a career clerk) Read about it Have heard about it from offenders who have used its services Other:______________________________________________________
2. Based on what you have seen and heard, how would you evaluate the image of the
career center by offenders?
Excellent Very good Good Poor Very poor
Comments:_____________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________
3. Based on what you have seen and heard, what suggestions would you make that
might improve the image or services of the career center?
________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
4. Based on what you have seen and heard, what positive effects are the services of
the career center having on the career planning of offenders?
________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
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Job Placement and Retention Follow Up Form
Ex-offender’s name: Job held/dates: Job held/dates: Job held/dates: _________________ ________________ _______________ __________________ _________________ ________________ _______________ __________________ _________________ ________________ _______________ __________________ _________________ ________________ _______________ __________________ _________________ ________________ _______________ __________________ _________________ ________________ _______________ __________________ _________________ ________________ _______________ __________________ _________________ ________________ _______________ __________________ _________________ ________________ _______________ __________________ _________________ ________________ _______________ __________________ _________________ ________________ _______________ __________________ _________________ ________________ _______________ __________________ _________________ ________________ _______________ __________________ _________________ ________________ _______________ __________________ _________________ ________________ _______________ __________________ _________________ ________________ _______________ __________________ _________________ ________________ _______________ __________________ _________________ ________________ _______________ __________________ _________________ ________________ _______________ __________________ _________________ ________________ _______________ __________________ _________________ ________________ _______________ __________________
