PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Gyasi Headen, Executive Director of Pathways to Apprenticeship, on behalf of the Center for Employment Opportunities
2:12:59
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154 sec
Gyasi Headen, Executive Director of Pathways to Apprenticeship, read a testimony on behalf of the Center for Employment Opportunities in support of legislation to improve employment opportunities for individuals returning from incarceration. The testimony emphasized the challenges faced by formerly incarcerated individuals and the importance of immediate employment opportunities in the construction industry.
- Highlighted the immediate needs of individuals leaving prison, including obtaining ID, finding employment, and meeting basic survival needs
- Described CEO's role in connecting returning individuals to transitional employment and training opportunities
- Advocated for more quality construction jobs with a $40 floor for wages and benefits, and emphasized the need for explicit language in the bill to ensure justice-impacted individuals benefit from these jobs
Gyasi Headen
2:12:59
Good afternoon, madam chairperson and members of counsel.
2:13:02
My name is Josie Hedden.
2:13:03
I'm the executive director of Pathways to apprenticeship, an organization that helps underserved and underprivileged individuals have access to union career opportunities through pre apprenticeship.
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I'm gonna read a testimony from one of our partner organization center for employment opportunities.
2:13:18
Hello.
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Thank you for the opportunity to testify in support of this legislation.
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To start, I wanna paint a picture for you regarding what it is like for someone coming home from prison.
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Thousands of people who leave prison in jail every year and return to the city.
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Maybe some were fortunate enough to have part have been part of a vocational program.
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Most don't have access to those while they're incarcerated.
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Regardless, you're going to leave DLCCS with $200 and a bus ticket and have to figure things out from there.
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Immediately need excuse me.
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Immediately need to figure out ID and any other documents You need to obtain employment before you can even start looking for a job.
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You work hard to get connected to services that can support you, and hopefully, this happens within the 1st few weeks.
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But sometimes it takes months.
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One of the one of your biggest concerns is how you're gonna make a living just to survive in a few 1st weeks.
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You need income, and you need to find opportunities that will provide that.
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To top it all off, you are often dealing with parole restrictions and requirement that make it hard for you to have enough time to figure this out.
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Meeting these basic needs is one of these things that CEO focuses on.
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1st and foremost, We connect people returning from incarceration to immediate transition employment and pay training opportunities that allow people to get some immediate income that helps them to stabilize before they start looking for permanent employment.
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We prepare thousands of people every year for Korean construction.
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For careers and construction work is one of the opportunities that offers the most promise to people.
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But the biggest barriers to people entering the industry is the lack of quality jobs available to them.
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We know how critical construction jobs offer justice impact to people.
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CEO has been partnering with laborers union to get people into apprenticeships, and we see how life change changes for these jobs.
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But they aren't enough jobs.
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We need to see more construction jobs in the city.
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With the floor $40 floor for wages and benefits, and this bill will ensure that happens.
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We need to see justice impact that people directly benefit from these jobs, and there needs to be explicit language in this bill that Make sure that that happens.
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Sign Ken Edwards managing manager leadership and organizing central for employment opportunities.
2:15:33
Thank you for your time.
Carmen N. De La Rosa
2:15:34
Thank you so much.
