By Craig Anderson

DOVER — A former inmate herself, Nicole Campbell gave an enthusiastic recommendation for other ex-convicts seeking jobs and a return to society Wednesday.

“What you don’t realize is that, when you’re in prison, you work hard every single day,” said the lifelong Dover resident, 50, who was incarcerated 16 years. “That starts out at 8 cents an hour, 20 cents an hour. And, if you’re coming home to a job that’s $15 (per hour), then you’re going to get your best worker ever.”

But, she added, “you have to give us a chance. Let that person who’s no longer a convict come in and show you who they are because you’re going to get the worker who says, ‘You know what? I’m going to give you my time. I’m going to give you 100%, and I’m going to do what you ask me to do, but if you don’t give me that opportunity you will never know.’”

Ms. Campbell spoke from the “Job-B-Q” for probationers, hosted by the Delaware Department of Correction’s Kent County Probation and Parole reentry team and the Delaware Center for Justice.

A row of more than a dozen companies and organizations had their representatives presenting information to probationers at the Dover probation building, so they could perhaps take a big step toward employment.

One presenter, Bayhealth organizational sourcing specialist Alana King, said her company was looking for connections.

“Our value is connecting with people for this career opportunity, and we’re really looking to find quality applicants in all aspects of the community,” she explained. “We’re really looking to find team members that just have a heart of service, so ... what better way to connect with those looking to reenter the community and just serve.”

Bayhealth had clinical and nonclinical positions available, and Ms. King said sifting through candidates “just varies on the individual’s skill set. We love to receive all applications and just review how each applicant could potentially contribute to the health and wellness of our community overall.”

Officer Mya Courtney, Kent County Probation and Parole’s in-reach coordinator, also emphasized those relationships, saying, “Today, we’re connecting our offender populations, our reentrants, with meaningful job opportunities throughout the community.

“They have to come to the probation (office), and when you put (job opportunities) right in front of them, they definitely take full advantage when you’re saying hi to them, pushing them down the line,” she added.

“Hopefully, we can get some people jobs, interviews. Some successful employment opportunities would be a successful event or even just getting the word out and having a lot of people show up — I’m OK with that, too.”

For Mercedes Watson, the Delaware Center for Justice’s director of community engagement, the full mission was “to get as many people hired as possible. Our goal is to reduce recidivism overall. We want to keep people employed and educated, things like that, so they can stay outside incarceration.”

According to Department of Correction spokesperson Jason Miller, “The DOC and DCJ have partnered over the past two years to significantly expand our on-site employment resources for individuals on probation. At Dover Probation and Parole, that has included weekly employment assistance workshops led by DCJ staff, where probationers receive resume-writing assistance, mock job interview sessions and job search help.”

Mr. Miller went on to say, “Probation and Parole and DCJ leverage their relationships with local educational and skill-training organizations and local employers to connect probationers to training, apprenticeships and jobs. We leverage those partnerships to bring employers and education and skill-training organizations on-site through informational tables during reporting days.”

Wednesday’s job fair was the third large-scale employment event that Kent Probation and Parole and the Delaware Center for Justice has organized over the past two years.

“Participants included private-sector, nonprofit and government employers who have demonstrated a willingness to hire justice-involved individuals,” Mr. Miller said. “These employers offer competitive compensation, and several offer apprenticeships in high-demand fields.”

In addition, he said that Officer Courtney “convenes monthly reentry workshops at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center (for those) who are nearing release from prison, with speakers from government agencies and community service providers who provide information about accessing housing options, social services, medical and behavioral health care, treatment for addiction, job search and employment resources, and probation supervision.”

This week’s fair included the Delaware Department of Labor, George & Lynch, the Career Team, Kent County Human Resources, Quality Exteriors, R.C. Fabricators, Master Interiors, Bayhealth, Oxford House, Recovery Innovation Recovery Response Center, the Food Bank of Delaware, Bally’s Dover, Lazarus Educational Services and the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services’ mobile health unit.

For information on the Delaware Center for Criminal Justice, visit dcjustice.org.