Program gives Green Hill inmates hope, optimism for future

[...] Cressel and other graduates of the Uplift portion of the state Rehabilitation Administration's MyJOB, or My Journey Out Beyond, say the program is giving them skills and strategies to succeed in the workforce and begin their adult lives on the right foot after their release.

About 20 residents of Green Hill School and Naselle Youth Camp, the first to complete the new program, gathered recently at Green Hill School with representatives from the Rehabilitation Administration, MyJOB, Pacific Mountain Workforce Development and others to celebrate their success.

While Green Hill has had other vocational programs for years, MyJOB teaches residents of the juvenile detention facilities "soft skills" such as how to get along with people in a workplace and gives them practice in job interview situations, specifically teaching them how to address their felony history in such a situation.

MyJOB is a partnership between the state Rehabilitation Administration, the Department of Social and Health Services Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, local workforce development councils and school districts, reported The Chronicle (http://bit.ly/2haYMmO).

John Clayton, retiring assistant secretary of the state Rehabilitation Administration, spoke at the reception, and said the state has an obligation to plan for the re-entry of juvenile offenders back into society and the workforce.

Cheryl Fambles, chief executive officer of Pacific Mountain Workforce Development, told attendees at the event that the program is not about charity, but about enabling juveniles re-entering society to be a part of the economy.