MANSFIELD — Stephen Parsons says prisons are about more than locking people up and throwing away the key.
“Our department is not about that. We really do care about giving these guys opportunities, because they are going to be out there in our communities,” said Parsons, a unit manager at Mansfield Correctional Institution.
“Despite being a Level 3 facility, ManCI has released 476 people back into the community this year — and each individual needs a reason to believe success is possible.”
When ManCI was approached by state officials about adding an OhioMeansJobs location within its campus, Parsons was eager to help lead the charge.
OhioMeansJobs is the state’s free, online career counseling center that connects businesses to job seekers and provides career services to all Ohioans. It also has physical locations in Ohio’s 88 counties and 27 of the state’s penal institutions.
ManCI’s newly-certified OhioMeansJobs hub is located in a small, sunny computer lab in the same building where inmates take classes from Ashland University.
During a ribbon cutting ceremony Wednesday, Terry Jones of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services told ManCI staff members to remember that a dedicated space is exciting, but it isn’t what will make an impact.
He compared it to a church — meaningless without the people inside.
“This building we put over here today that you call a job center, it’s not a job center. It’s just a building, a room with computers in it,” said Jones, a project manager.
“It’s the people like (the case managers), the warden and inmates and the things that you do in here from today going forth, that’s going to make it a job center.”
Jones credited the work of several employees and ManCI for their enthusiasm in getting the program up and running, including warden Harold May, Parsons and case managers Adam Risner and Alejandra Perrin.
How it works
ManCI inmates did have some access to help with résumé building prior to OhioMeansJobs’ arrival, said Justin Henry, ManCI’s unit management chief.
But the expanded space and staffing will allow the prison to build on that work.
“This allows us to actually track how many résumés have been built. There’s also training available to them on how to build résumés and how to apply for jobs,” he said.
“We’re able to track how many applications have been sent out and it allows us to compile statistics to show if it’s working or not,” he added.
The center will be run by two ManCI case managers and two incarcerated individuals trained to help others set up OhioMeansJobs accounts, build résumés, conduct job searches and connect inmates who will soon leave the system with outside community resources.
“We’ve partnered with outside agencies like Goodwill Industries. They’re providing education on job interviews, as well as providing other resources in the community through our Richland County Reentry Coalition,” Parsons said. “They put together transportation opportunities, provide clothing and other things like that for our guys.”
ManCI also offers some job preparation and training, including apprenticeships in horticulture and janitorial work. Inmates can take remedial education, earn their GED and take college classes through Ashland University. There are opportunities to learn how to use forklifts and run machinery in the on-campus Ohio Penal Industries factory.
Henry said preparing incarcerated individuals to succeed after they leave ultimately benefits society as a whole.
“These resources (are) something we’ve needed for a long time. Higher security institutions, such as ManCI, our recidivism rate can be higher typically,” he said. “Our mission has always been to reduce recidivism among those we touch, reduce crime in Ohio by reducing victimization. The way we protect our citizens is by rehabilitation.”
