Day 4: The System Works, Doesn't It?

Today I was picked up and went to work. Brenda and I are still reacting to this life changing situation, and haven't hammered all the bugs in our routine. We will, eventually.

When I get back to prison Derick asks me how my day was. I tell him it was great, but don't want to go into too many details about my morning workout at our employee gym, private shower and shave with a real razor, and lunch of Italian herb chicken and a spring vegetable medley. I ask if he has had any luck with his work request form. He shows it to me and is clearly frustrated - it is covered everywhere with red marks, indicating missing information. Derick has 8 brothers and sisters spread across the country and can't recall any of their street addresses and phone numbers. He does not have a family physician.

"Accuracy isn't what they want, here", I tell him. "I think someone in the office is just verifying that the info is there, not actually checking it for accuracy. This is the form they hand to the cops if you don't come back, that's all. For the things you don't know, just make them up. Pick a doctor from the phone book downstairs and use that address and phone."

I can see Derick is still confused - or rather, doesn't care. "They won't let me out anyway. I work under the table doing construction, and they'll never approve my job. See, I am not like you. I don't have one of those kinds of jobs. And there is no way I would be able to get one while I am in here."

"But", I protest, "the whole point of this place is to allow us to be productive members of the community - to get jobs. Surely they will help you find one they will approve."

Derick laughs like I just told him about a great deal I got on a bridge in New York. "They don't give no shit about us. And they aren't helping." I am naive, because I thought there would be some social service here for job placement. But there is nothing of the sort. If a prisoner doesn't have a job lined up, he has to find it himself. Here is a way it would work:

1. Someone on the outside arranges to have a newspaper sent to the prisoner.
2. All mail is delayed at least 24 hours by the prison.
   
3. If the prisoner finds a job lead, he has 20 minutes a day, possibly, to make calls about the job. Of course, if the block has their afternoon Blockout revoked, he can't make calls. If he does not get to the phone sign up sheet in time before it fills, he can't make calls.
   
4. If he is able to speak to someone about a job, he has to have hard copies of a job application mailed to him - at the prison.
5. A prisoner is not permitted to leave for a job interview - the interviewer must come to the prison.
6. Employers aren't pre-screened or pre-approved. Once the prisoner has the job offer, he submits a work request form. The prison contacts the employer and screens the employer to ensure compliance with the Work Release program.

As Derick told me - some employers don't really feel like bothering with all this. And why should they, for unskilled labor? If the point of this system is to enable working, why is the system designed to make working as difficult as possible? Even with the resources of a large company at my disposable, there was still a lot of mundane compliance questions and forms before I was allowed back out.

I was initially surprised by what seemed like half the prisoners never going out to work. I think it is pretty obvious why.