New York City Each time, Jorge Badla turns into a gear, sitting in the driver’s seat in an industry that works on fumes.
According to the American Truck Transport Association, the industry is currently facing a shortage of about 60,000 drivers.
With every mile, 48 -year -old Badilla fills a decisive need and maps for a future he did not think he would get.
“I have an opportunity to do something positive in my life,” Badla told CBS News. “It is great to be free.”
Freedom is particularly meaningful for Badilla, who spent nearly a decade in the Federal Agency for the sale of drugs from a housing project in Queens City, New York City.
“The FBI agent was directing his rifle to my face,” Badla said. “… I did not see the daylight during the next nine years.”
While he was in prison, Badilla got a GED diploma. While leaving the prison was the end of his sentence, it was the beginning of a different kind of struggle.
“When you get out of prison, you feel that all the doors are closed,” said Badilla. “Nobody wants to give you a job.”
The country, six out of every 10 people are still imprisoned, are unemployed after four years of prison, according to American Chamber of Commerce. Nearly 70 % will end up to prison, according to numbers from the Justice Statistics Office at the Ministry of Justice, a problem called oud.
Badla said that while he was in prison, seeing a “many” former former who was reviewed “also helped me to wake up.”
After his release, Badilla entered the workforce development program to license commercial leadership, a experimental program that represents a partnership between the New York City mayor’s office for criminal justice, and stands out, a technical company, previously trained imprisoned people who are considered low risk of transferring jobs. It helps them obtain a commercial driver’s license and link them to truck transport companies in the United States throughout the United States
For imprisoned people who participate in initiatives that combine education and work training, the prospects for a return to prison decrease by 43 %, according to Study 2013 by RAND non -profit research collection.
“When you put more barriers in the path of a person, they do not see a way to gain a sincere life in reality and this does not help them, but it also does not benefit society,” Diana Logan, Director of the mayor of criminal justice, told CBS News. “They paid their debts to society and now they need to return.”
Logan said that the truck transport industry provides a promising slope of the labor market, with an urgent need for the American supply chain.
“We looked at what was profitable and accessible to people who return from prison,” Logan said. “We do not have enough skilled people, and it is a very skilled profession … gave [the formerly incarcerated] A really great opportunity to be part of the societies they knew had harmed. “
While the program may raise the eyebrows for some New York residents who are skeptical of how to spend taxpayers, Logan pointed to the impact of granting people previously detained a second opportunity to help lead the economy in their societies.
“If you have been imprisoned on Rikeers, I must pay for [the] She said, “The facility, officers, food,” while, when I take a person and give them the opportunity, they pay taxes. Now, as a community, we get taxpayer revenues from a person who is not in a box on the shelf. “
The co -founder of the profession, Ozuma “Zou”, said that the program is rooted in the belief that people who leave the prison are often less than its value and lack.
“Our people only search for a person who believes in them and a person who can give them a legitimate opportunity,” Uucingo said to CBS News. “These are the people who – for the largest part – did not get a fair opportunity because they are able to succeed and contribute. They only need this opportunity to support them.”
In the fiscal year 2024, 94 % of the participants in the training program graduated, according to the data provided by Career Career. The company said that all of these graduates received job offers with an average salary of 75,000 dollars per year.
Since the launch of the truck transport program, it was completed by 260 people previously imprisoned.
Orchingwa stressed that the training program provides more than just a salary, but a feeling of goal.
“When people get job and income opportunities, they will stay outside the prison,” said Orkingo.
Badilla described the freedom that now has, to drive anywhere, to a bird.
“A free bird.”
