CTE

A vocational program is changing lives and instilling hope for a positive future for San Quentin prisoners.

The construction skills program enables prisoners to qualify for a number of career certifications and union memberships.

“This is a tough program that consists of 640 classroom hours, tests, workbook assignments and 280 hours of on-the-job training,” said Lauro Perez, instructor for the Career Technical Education (CTE) construction program.

This program is also a part of the California Prison Industry Authority (PIA) and inmates receive pay for their assigned hours.

CTE also incorporates values and morals toward a solid foundation for growth and future opportunity, Perez said.

“As a youth, I’d beat the pavement day in and day out, trying to become employed only to be turned away time and time again,” said Roosevelt “Askari” Johnson Jr., a CTE graduate and current teachers’ assistant. “That was “due to the lack of experience which, by the way, is one of the contributing factors that made it easy for me to em- brace a criminal life style.”

Another inmate, Jamai Johnson, said, “This construction trade will enable me to provide for my family, while giving back to the community by literally rebuilding what I once brought destruction to as a youth… Upon release, when I get my [driver’s] license, the CTE/PIA program will pay my first year union dues and purchase my tools.”

Perez, who has more than 21 years of experience in the laborers union, commented, “For the union construction industry, this is a time of optimism, promise and opportunity. All leading economic indicators for the construction industry point to steady and continued growth as we finally remove ourselves from the depths of one of the most debilitating recessions of our lifetime.

“Since I started teaching here last March, every guy who has successfully completed this program has gone out and hustled up work in the trades.”

APPRENTICE WAGES

Upon graduating the CTE/ PIA program and paroling, an individual can join a laborers’ union as an apprentice making $19.75 an hour. A carpenters apprentice can earn from $24.70 to $29.04 an hour in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Askari also said, “The CTE Laborers Program has changed the trajectory of my life forever in that I have little to no concerns about employment upon my release.”

He said he recommends the program to others in San Quentin and “I also believe this program should be made available in every prison in California.”

Perez said, “I come from an immigrant family, 21 siblings, poor; all we know is how to work. The great thing about the union is that if you can work hard you can find work. You do not even necessarily need to know how to speak English; as long as you can work hard, someone will hire you. I even worked 10 years as a contractor.”

JOURNEYMAN WAGES

Perez said a union journeyman laborer can make as much as $33.75 an hour, with an additional $23.55 an hour in fringe benefits. He also stated that an apprentice la- borer gets a raise of $2 an hour every six months, after finish- ing an apprentice class. An apprentice laborer must complete seven required classes and 4,000 hours of on the job work experience in order to become a journeyman laborer. A union carpenter makes $48.40 an hour in wages in the Bay Area, plus $30.51 an hour in fringe benefits.

CTE/PIA student Evan Page said, “Since I have been enrolled, I have gained certifications and experience in the construction trade as well as a positive outlook regard- ing my future work opportunities… I believe through this program I have gained enough knowledge and drive to truly succeed in the working world.”

CTE training covers asbestos abatement, scaffold building, concrete placement/ termination, and demolition/ deconstruction.

Also, confined space, soil compaction, trenching and excavation, metal and wood- stud framing, drywall/sheetrock/finish taping, floor prep, grade checking, concrete finishing, underground piping, general and industrial industry OSHA rules and regulations.

“The inmates coming in here knowing nothing, being green…,” Perez said. “Let me tell you something, one time I was sent back from a job because I was not good enough…I do not want that to happen to any of these men in this program. The lord has me here teaching. Seeing lives being transformed inspires me. I love coming to work, and I love my job. We have a positive atmosphere; we joke, and have a great time.”

Anyone interested in this program should send an In- mate Request Form to Lauro Perez at the CTE program requesting an interview for the next scheduled program entry.

Greg Venegas is helping San Quentin prisoners learn construction skills qualifying them to find excellent jobs when released.

CTE laborers at work

Venegas teaches in a program called Career Technical Education Construction Labor Program (CTE) that provides basic training with scissor lift, skip loader, Caterpillar, backhoe tractor, and digging hand ditches.

He has worked in the construction field for nearly two decades and decided to give back by teaching San Quentin inmates what he learned.

Venegas, an immigrant from Mexico, knows how difficult it is to find employment. The collaboration between the Prison Industry Authority (PIA) and the CTE program has made it possible for inmates to get direct entry to employment upon their parole.

“Greg has strengthened my confidence and security about my future,” said Romeo Bacos, a youth offender incarcerated at the age of 17. He recently graduated and is now one of the eight teacher assistants (TA) in the program. “He worked to get us to be members of LIUNA (Laborers’ International Union National Association), and benefits upon our release,” Bacos said.

“According to a RAND analysis, every $1 invested in such [inmate] education generates at least $4 in economic return,” reports Fast Company.

“The state typically spends $71,000 a year to house an inmate. It costs about $5,000 total to help put one [incarcerated] student through community college”, reports Fast Company.

LIUNA has offices in Northern and Southern California, and guarantees CTE graduates who show up a job, said David Lee, another TA, incarcerated for robbery with a few years left to parole.

“If I had this program when I did my first term, I don’t think I would have come to prison this time around,” Lee said, recounting the difficulties of finding a job before committing his crime.

Since 2015, Venegas has expanded the program with the help of Tim Linn, a retiree from PIA. With Linn’s help, the CTE construction program was able to attain work for the students, according to Venegas.

Venegas recruited the oldest TA, Louis Hunter, 58 to help lead the class. Despite, his 65-year-to-life sentence, Hunter graduated with two degrees in Christian Ministry in 2014 and is an active member of the Protestant Church at San Quentin.

The program needs a person who is experienced, passionate, and level-headed about himself and Hunter was the best fit for this program, Venegas said.

The program’s widespread popularity attracted many applicants. Eager to join, Harry “ATL” “Phenom” Smith knew nothing about construction when he enrolled, but now he’s one of eight TAs in the program to help train the incoming class.

“Greg taught me the foundation of construction,” Smith said. “He simplified the process.”

Known as Louie the Plumber, Louie Light discovered the program during one of his plumbing assignments where he met a student in the CTE program who told him about its benefits. Light applied immediately.

“Greg is very selective in who he hires into the program,” Light said. “Typically they have to have three years or less to their parole date.”

Light, who has a parole date of 2040, however, was an exception. He credits his plumbing experience for acceptance into the program. However, his peers think it’s his humorous demeanor and light-heartedness that got him hired.

Most vocation programs at San Quentin are about a lot of bookwork and staying clean. But anyone thinking about joining this program had better be prepared to be dirty and messy, Light said.

Selection for the TA position isn’t all about the know-how, according to Rich Banuelos, who is the program’s electrician/field instructor. Banuelos said the program selects based on guys who are motivated, can take direction, have positive attitude, work well with others, are accountable, and are not trying to step on other people to further their personal agenda.

You need to be willing to sweat, get dirty, step in sewage water, and “make friends with dirt,” said David Silva, a youth offender who also graduated and became a TA.

Bacos lauded Venegas for organizing a program where “generations after me will have a space to learn valuable, marketable skills while giving back.”

Pointing to his peers and a pile of books and tools on the wooden tables, Bacos said, “In some ways, together as a community, we are making society as a whole safer.”

David Le: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Y78HMlWo6k
https://sanquentinnews.com/chan-zuckerberg-initiative-czi-aids-programs/

SQ Health Care program sets the bar

San Quentin’s big transition as non-designated facility

A look inside the bustling San Quentin prison library

Construction training offers increased job opportunities

Reconstructing lives through vocational training