D E P A R T M E N T O F J U S T I C E N A T I O N A L I N S T I T U T E O F C O R R E C T I O N S U.S. Department of Justice National Institute of Corrections National Institute of Corrections Offender Workforce Development Division October 2005 Career Resource Center Staff Handbook
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DEPAR
TMENTOF JUSTICE
NATIONAL
INSTITUTE OFCORR
ECTIONSU.S. Department of Justice
National Institute of Corrections
National Institute of CorrectionsOffender Workforce Development Division
October 2005
Career Resource CenterStaff Handbook
This document was prepared under cooperative agreement #02K67GIW4 from the National Institute of Corrections, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view or opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.
U.S. Department of JusticeNational Institute of Corrections
320 First Street, NWWashington, DC 20534
Morris L. ThigpenDirector
Larry SolomonDeputy Director
John E. MooreAdministrator
Office of Correctional Job Training and Placement
Francina C. CarterProject Manager
National Institute of CorrectionsWorld Wide Web Site
http://www.nicic.org
Career Resource Center
Staff Handbook
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Overview of a Career Center Page 3
Chapter 2: Career Clerk Selection and Training Page 12
Chapter 3: Marketing the Services of the Career
Center Page 17
Chapter 4: Evaluating of the Services of the
Career Center Page 22
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Chapter 1
Staff Handbook
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Chapter 1: Overview of a Career Center A career center can be defined as a physical place that has staff, services and materials to
assist an individual to learn the process of career decision making and to apply it to the
next and subsequent career choices. Career is defined as a lifestyle concept that involves
a sequence of work or leisure activities in which one engages throughout a lifetime
(Ettinger, 1996).
These concepts and available research on the effectiveness of career centers imply the
following:
• The activities and resources available in the center should foster knowledge of
a career choice process that can be applied again and again in life, not only at
a single point in time, such as release from a correctional facility.
• The activities and resources available in the center should cover at least three
broad areas – information about the self, information about the world of
education and work, and development of job-seeking and retention skills.
Ideally, materials would also be available about life roles other than work –
specifically, information about the roles of spouse, parent, homemaker,
leisurite, and citizen.
• Persons using career centers will profit more from their use if individuals
using the resource materials have the support of trained, effective facilitators.
Purpose and Guidelines for a Career Center
The overall purpose of a career center is to provide a user-friendly atmosphere, high-
quality resource materials, and trained staff members so that individuals become
motivated to assume responsibility for their own career planning and have assistance in
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doing so. This purpose has the highest likelihood of being fulfilled if the following
conditions exist:
• The physical space allocated to the center is generally accessible in the
facility, is attractive in appearance, offers an atmosphere conducive to
learning, and has sufficient space to house the resources and a variety of group
activities comfortably.
• The resources contained in the center are organized in a way that makes sense
to users and relates directly to the career planning process.
• The center staff is trained in facilitative skills and the career planning process
and have detailed knowledge of the resources housed in the center and
available to ex-offenders after release.
• Specific tools – such as a written action plan, career portfolio, and guided self-
help materials – are provided as a framework for use of the services of the
center.
Essential Resources
The career center concept is new in correctional facilities, and the budget for such
services is typically non-existent. Let’s begin by listing minimum resources:
• An assessment tool to measure career interests
There are many such tools in the commercial market, including The Self-
Directed Search and the Interest Profiler. The first is available for a fee from
its publisher, Psychological Assessment Resources (www.parinc.com), and
Form E is recommended because of its lower reading level. The second may
be downloaded free of charge and duplicated from a Department of Labor
website, called O*Net at http://www.onetcenter.org/IP.html. (You may need
to check with your local computer services coordinator before doing this
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download.) One of the discs which you received with this handbook contains
the Interest Profiler software. Either of these assessment inventories provides
a two- or three-letter code that can be used with the manuals that come with
either of these inventories to identify a list of occupations of possible interest
to the person who takes the inventory.
• A copy of a large volume titled Holland Dictionary of Occupational Codes,
also published by Psychological Assessment Resources. Using the code
provided by either of the two interest inventories above, individuals can
identify a much longer list of occupational alternatives than that provided by
the manuals alone.
• One or more copies of the latest version of the Occupational Outlook
Handbook, published by the U.S. Department of Labor every two years. This
book contains very complete descriptions of approximately 250 occupations,
those in which 90% of the population work. Descriptions include work tasks,
education required, employment outlook, national salary range, opportunities
for making a career path, where to get further information, and much more.
• Descriptions and entry requirements for the vocational-technical and other
educational programs available to offenders while in a correctional facility.
• Catalogues and brochures from local community colleges.
• A reference book that lists and describes private vocational-technical schools
in the state
• Reference material about federally-funded financial aid programs
• A reference book that lists and describes four-year colleges in the state
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• Information about apprenticeships and their entry requirements
• Reference books about job-seeking skills, including finding job openings,
completing a job application, writing a resume, and having a job interview
• Reference book(s) about what employers expect of employees and information
about how to keep a job
The Self-Directed Search interest inventory and many of the reference materials listed are
now available as computer software and/or on the Internet. Since the Internet cannot be
used by offenders at this time, print material and computer software are the best two
formats for these materials. Desirably, the center would also contain software such as
Discovering the Internet, copyrighted by the Maryland State Department of Education,
that teaches offenders how to use important websites for career planning after they have
been released from a correctional facility. A copy of this CD can be obtained for $10.00
from the Maryland State Department of Education.
As a part of this project, you have received a set of materials provided by the National
Institute of Corrections that offers some of the core elements of the list of resources cited
above. More specifically, the career center resource package includes the following:
• A master copy of a self-help booklet, called the Career Planning Workbook,
that leads an offender through all the steps of the career planning process –
with explanatory text and worksheets. This booklet may be duplicated for use
with offenders in the career center.
• A CD-ROM that contains computer software to administer and score the
Interest Profiler, a 180-item interest inventory that has been well developed
and researched by the United States Employment Service and is in public
domain.
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• A CD-ROM that contains the Occupational Outlook Handbook, the U.S.
Department of Labor publication that gives comprehensive descriptions of
approximately 250 common occupations.
A Basic List of Resources for a Career Center
Essential
• A specific physical space set aside for the career center
• The center should be large enough to allow offenders to read at tables and search for specific information. Provisions should also be made for space to conduct small group meetings, discussions, and other resource-based or related activities.
• Computer with printer. In order to use the compact discs provided, the computer
must have a CD-ROM drive. The printer may not be accessible to offenders due to security reasons. If this is the case, staff will retrieve printed documents for the offender.
• TV/VCR
• Book shelves for resource material
• Newspaper and local “Job Guide” that has current job listings
• Textbooks and workbooks for offenders to use in approved courses of study
relative to employment
• A list of legal barriers facing people with criminal records relative to the state they are being released to
• Information on starting your own business
• Transition information on housing, money management, educational
opportunities, financial aid opportunities, and life skills. Non-essential but suggested
• Career center location in the vicinity of the education center, library, and law area.
• Material relative to the career development of persons of diversity (i.e. Native
Questionnaire about Career Center Services Please answer each of the following questions. Your answers will help us improve the services of the career center. 1. What did you do in the career center today? ____________________________
Career Center Evaluation Form (for use by administrators or teachers)
Thank you for answering the following questions. Your answers will help us improve the services of the career center. 1. In what ways have you learned about the resources and services of the career
center?
Had a tour by the librarian (or a career clerk) Read about it Have heard about it from offenders who have used its services Other:______________________________________________________
2. Based on what you have seen and heard, how would you evaluate the image of the