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Former inmate credits Maricopa County Smart Justice Program with job and training
Summary
Jason Sully, a former inmate, says the Maricopa County Smart Justice Program helped him obtain vocational schooling, job coaching and full-time employment; a program representative said the initiative achieved a 72% full-time employment rate over the last two program years.
Jason Sully, a former inmate, said he found steady work and training through the Maricopa County Smart Justice Program after going to prison.
Sully described a period of drug addiction and run-ins with law enforcement before saying prison became “a rock bottom” that led him to the county program. “Janice Guevara immediately was there for me,” Sully said, crediting a career adviser with connecting him to employers and a grant that paid for schooling to become a commercial truck driver, as well as interview training and other supports.
A Maricopa County Smart Justice Program representative described the program’s goal as helping “those folks get a hand up, not a handout” as participants reintegrate from custody. The representative said the program achieved a 72% full-time employment rate over the last two program years.
The transcript and participants’ remarks identify three core components of Sully’s experience: a grant to cover vocational schooling, individualized career advising to help overcome hiring barriers, and job-readiness services such as interview training. Sully said those elements helped him secure full-time employment with benefits and housing; he added, “If I can do it, anyone can do it.”
The recording does not specify the grant amount, the employers involved, or the exact number of people served by the program. The program representative’s employment-rate figure covers two recent program years, as stated in the recording.
