CIRV plans clinic on employment

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The Community Initiative to Reduce Violence, under the direction of Guy Burney, is hosting a Certification for Qualification of Employment clinic from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at Mahoning-Youngstown Community Action Partnership office, 1325 Fifth Ave.

This effort is in collaboration with Home for Good Re-Entry Resource Referral Center of ACTION (Alliance for Congregational Transformation Influencing Our Neighborhoods), MYCAP and United Returning Citizens.

This CQE certificate has the ability to remove some of the barriers to employment that many may have faced as a result of negative decision-making and ending up in jail or prison.

If you have a misdemeanor record, you can apply for a CQE six months after your sentence (including supervision) is completed.

If you have a felony record, you can apply for a CQE one year after your sentence (including supervision) is completed. All convictions must have been only in Ohio.

No appointment is necessary to attend the clinic, and there is no cost at the time of applying for the petition.

In order to expedite the process, those attending must bring this information: a copy of your employment history (including addresses and phone numbers); three references from family members (including addresses and phone numbers); and three references from nonfamily members (including addresses and phone numbers).

In addition to the CQE clinic, and in conjunction with April being Minority Health Month, Dr. Ben McGee and the Rev. Dr. Lewis Macklin of Kappa Alpha Psi will be on hand at 11 a.m. to give brief presentations on Ohio’s infant-mortality rate. Infant mortality is defined nationwide as the death of a live-born baby before his or her first birthday.

This presentation is geared specifically toward the male population, regardless of whether men are attending for the purpose of the CQE clinic.

Registration is requested but not required. For information, call CIRV at 330-742-8779, Home for Good Re-Entry Resource Referral Center at 330-743-3700, MYCAP at 330-747-7921 or United Returning Citizens at 330-809-4710.