Workforce Development

Finding a job is hard work – imagine trying to job hunt when you’ve never had a real job and you have a criminal record. WCS knows that having a job with family sustaining wages is key to an individual’s ability to recover and move forward into a healthy, secure future. 

“Research has consistently shown that crime and unemployment are linked, and that one of the most important conditions that leads to less offending is a strong tie to meaningful employment.”  [Mackenzie, D.L. (2006). What Works:  Reducing the Criminal Activities of Offenders and Delinquents.  Cambridge University Press, New York, NY.]

This WCS Division is comprised of WCS employment and training services, the Center for Driver’s License Recovery and Employability (CDLRE) and Policy efforts.

The employment and training services include:  education, vocational training, employment skills, job placement, job retention and case management.  These services assist individuals to secure family-sustaining jobs, live crime-fee lives, and fulfill their responsibilities to their families and the community. 

If your driver’s license disappeared tomorrow what would the impact be on your life?  The CDLRE assists low-income individuals who have a suspended or revoked driver’s license through legal assistance from attorneys, to create an affordable payment plan to cover fines as part of a license recovery plan and to arrange supervised community services as agreed to by a judge.

WCS is also working to affect policy changes that reduce barriers for those with criminal histories which in turn make it difficult for them to fully realize a changed life.