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Aboriginal Employment Training Initiatives

h3>Enhanced capacities to provide effective interventions for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Offenders

BY Travis Boone, Manager, Employment and Employability, Prairie Regional Headquarters

Photo:Travis Boone

Due to the relatively high numbers of Aboriginal inmates within the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC), programs are being developed with their needs specifically in mind. This year has been a strong year in the Prairie Region for employment and employability skills training for Aboriginal offenders. That’s where CORCAN comes in. The aim of CORCAN is to aid in the safe reintegration of all offenders by providing training opportunities and employment. Several new and promising initiatives have yielded positive results.

What’s Old Is New Again

CORCAN has entered into an interdepartmental agreement with Industry Canada for the delivery of the Information and Communication Technology Program at Saskatchewan Penitentiary’s maximum-security unit. This program teaches inmates skills in repair and refurbishing of computers that are then redistributed to schools and other service groups by Industry Canada. By the time they are finished the program, inmates can pass the A+ certification exams — a credential that is in demand in today’s labour market. At the present time, 75 percent of the participants in the program are Aboriginal inmates.

Filling the Construction Gap

The construction field is facing a chronic shortage of skilled workers in the Prairies, but CSC and CORCAN have taken on new initiatives to fill this need. Twenty-eight inmates (11 percent Aboriginal) have completed the Construction Framing Skills program from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, then followed it up with a practical skills component in the community via various types of conditional release. While on work release, many of the offenders resided at the Stan Daniels Healing Centre, operated by the Native Counselling Services of Alberta in Edmonton.

Prairie Region healing lodges have also provided training in various skills to inmates prior to their release into the community: food safety, workplace hazardous materials, construction safety, computer skills, first aid and chainsaw safety. These skills are delivered through courses that are third party–certified, meaning the course material and subsequent certification is issued by an agency other than CSC or CORCAN. Aboriginal inmates earned 1,315 vocational certificates — 33 percent of the total number of vocational certifications earned in the Prairie Region.

In the Community

Following offenders’ release into the community, an employment coordinator interviews them and then assists them with job placement or job search services. Prairie Region employment coordinators have been trained in Guiding Circles, which is an Aboriginal-specific employment assessment technique developed by the Aboriginal Human Resources Development Council. The technique is widely used in the Aboriginal community by schools, community employment counsellors and persons seeking employment. As well, two of the four community employment coordinators are members of Aboriginal employment committees in their parole districts. This provides access to a strong network of agencies where offenders can be streamed into programs to assist with their re-entry into the community. ♦