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WILKES-BARRE — Cindy Janosky made her way into the PathStone Inc. offices on a recent weekday, a picture of confidence and productivity.
PathStone aims at building self-sufficiency for those who have been incarcerated, with locations in both Luzerne and Lackawanna County.
“I have some time,” she said, as she made her way to the table grabbing a cup of coffee, “but I have to get back to work.”
PathStone Work Force Development Director Eve Centrelli smiles.
“I know your thinking that Cindy is our staff,” she said, “but she is a client.”
Janosky, a certified peer specialist at Community Counseling Services, credits the PathStone program and its dedicated staff with making her job success possible.
Its Power to Earn program, funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, provides re-entry training and employment assistance to adult ex-offenders. It is gender focused, but not gender exclusive. The program provides priority for veterans and spouses of veterans.
Janosky said it’s more than just simply “another program.” It has been a lifeline after two years spent in jail on a drug-related charge, she said.
Not only did Janosky serve her time in compliance with prison regulations, she made a decision to turn her life around and to help others turn their lives around.
She now helps others with life-controlling problems to find their way through a system which often times can be challenging and confusing.
Denise Traver, deputy director at PathStone, remembers Janosky’s tenacity in pursuing certification to do her present job.
“We ultimately had a trainer come up from the Philadelphia area to enable her and several others to complete their certification,” said Traver.
Jasmine Hutchins, who served a five-year prison sentence for possession of a controlled substance, has a different story, but shares Janosky’s tenacity of purpose.
Frustrated with her difficulty finding a job upon her release, she wrote a letter to the president of the United States.
In an email, the White House responded.
“I am committed to helping formerly-incarcerated people re-enter society, through programs that provide job training, work incentives, transitional assistance and substance abuse/mental health treatment — all of which can reduce the likelihood that a person will return to destructive criminal behavior and can encourage a more productive society,” said the email.
“Thank you for writing back,” Hutchins said in response, “but I will be homeless soon because I can not find a job because I have a felony.”
Hutchins, who now works 60 hours a week as a housekeeper, has the additional challenge of raising an 11-year-old daughter.
“She hadn’t seen me for years because I was in jail and now she doesn’t get to see me much either,” said Hutchins. “Yesterday I worked 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.”
Although frustrated with the system which seems to make success difficult, Hutchins credits the PathStone program with instilling in her hope for the future.
Still, she thinks the answer lies in a diversity of efforts including legislation and funding.
Staff members seemed to agree that nonprofits often function from grant money to grant money, but are underfunded in the long term.
They say federal monies directed toward finding jobs for those who have been incarcerated is well spent.
Traver said that although some tax breaks and financial incentives are available to employers, they often don’t take advantage of them.
“When employers look at a job application and see that an applicant has been convicted of a crime,” she said, “often they don’t even get an interview, they don’t even get a chance.”
Hutchins, with a host of job skills and a vibrant personality, often does get that interview and she sometimes even gets the job.
“Then after a few days, I am called in and fired,” she said.
Traver said sometimes applicants lose their job because of corporate policy.
“A regional manager could ‘fall in love’ with someone who interviews well,” she said, “but those corporate officials only see the paperwork, which often looks worse than it is.”
Tony DiMattia, adult education instructor, works to assist clients with overcoming the obstacles associated with having been in jail.
Meeting them where they are at, his assistance ranges from assisting clients with job applications on the internet to preparing resumes to searching the classified ads.
DiMattia also stressed the importance of helping clients get identification, birth certificates and social security cards in order to get their foot in the door at any company.
“Often in order to get one, you need the other, which you don’t have.” he said. “Regulations vary from state to state.”
Still DiMattia and other staff members are committed to assisting their clients in obtaining important documents even if that means transporting them to Scranton for a birth certificate or to the Department of Motor Vehicles for an identification card.
The organization is also more than willing to partner with other agencies, including Dress for Success and Volunteers of America.
Case manager Wendy Queen, who does extensive assessments of each client during their initial interview, said the staff seeks to have an understanding of needs of each individual and of their backgrounds, so that they can support them in the long term.
“We’re just not available on a set schedule, we’re here when clients walk in and might just need support,” she said.
The program’s philosophy is based on the understanding that sometimes clients may backslide, but that hope continues.
Rich O’Donnell entered the program in 2014 after being released from jail.
Originally equipped for his job search with tools including a bus pass and a voucher for clothing, he violated his probation after four months and ended up back in jail.
Now, in the Work Release Program, O’Donnell is steadfast in his commitment to bettering his life.
When asked how he envisions his life a year from now, he said, “I’d like to have a job, an apartment and enough money.”
To that end, O’Donnell is given permission several times a week to make his way to PathStone to fill out resumes or simply to be provided with words of encouragement.
“When Rich had a job, he rode his bike to work in the winter,” said Traver. “We believe in him.”
Funding for the present program Power to Earn will be coming to an end in June 2016. Thankfully that will not mean that the program and its staff will be unable to assist local residents.
Beginning in January 2016, a program entitled Training 2 Work will be initiated serving individuals in work release, which will include traditional work release, halfway houses and house arrest programs.
“We’ll still be here to help,” said Traver. “That’s the most important thing.”
