00:00In September 2024, the first cohort of 20 participants in the LinkUp program will graduate,
00:07and when they do, Regency Recruitment and Resource Limited will offer assistance to
00:11get them employed.
00:14This will include teaching them resume drafting and interview prepping, as well as liaising
00:18with employers on their behalf.
00:21This is etched in a memorandum of understanding between Costad and the human resource firm.
00:26Regency's president, Lara Quenchell-Thomas, says that apart from financial security, meaningful
00:32employment for the formerly incarcerated has the potential to produce positive ripple effects.
00:38There are many theories about how employment can reduce re-offending.
00:43It may increase ties to society, provide networks and social controls that discourage re-offending.
00:51It can also provide avenues for developing identities that are incompatible with criminal
00:57activity.
00:58She says higher self-esteem, being concerned about the impact of one's actions on society,
01:04accessing role models and mentors are other benefits of employment.
01:09A study done in Ohio in 2023 showed that post-prison employment reduced recidivism even for those
01:17with extensive and serious criminal histories.
01:21Costad's president, Dr. Keith Nurse, says LinkUp is an important social innovation to
01:26address the issue of recidivism and is also in keeping with the goal of the college to
01:31transform lives one student at a time.
01:34He's of the view that upskilling is more than just training and should include a process
01:39of what he calls incubation and acceleration.
01:44We're moving now to an employment framework.
01:48This really helps to square the circle and ensure that we are able to deliver to the
01:54formerly incarcerated and to others who would participate in our upskilling academies that
02:00doing this type of training is not a dead end.
02:04It's actually a pathway towards an improved livelihood.
02:08The MOU is signed for a period of three years.
02:11Control Thomas notes that there are structural barriers preventing people who were incarcerated
02:17from accessing meaningful employment, such as the certificate of character issued by
02:22the police service.
02:24It's a hurdle she knows her company will have to overcome, but she tells us she's optimistic
02:28that employers will respond and she has already began liaising with some of them.
02:33Obviously it can't work in every industry, it can't work in every corporate environment,
02:38but there's a lot of places where the sort of jobs that we hope to be able to offer can
02:42be provided by employers in a very safe way.
02:45She has a message for the private sector.
02:49Everybody has to be part of the solution, so any private sector firms that are watching
02:52that would like to get involved, learn how they can support us, please give me a call.
02:57Everybody knows I'm on LinkedIn, I'm on Facebook, or call COSTAT.
03:01COSTAT plans to offer the LinkUp program on an ongoing basis.
03:05Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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