Did You Know?

After our advocating for Proposition 47, and our service as co-chair of the L.A. County Prop 47 Jobs & Services Taskforce, in 2018, in partnership with the L.A. County Department of Workforce Development, Aging and Community Services and their Fair Chance Hiring campaign, UNITE-LA launched a pilot workforce development cohort-style program connecting 26 systems-involved 16- to 24-year-olds to job preparation, mentorship and an eight-week, 320-hour, paid internship at a private sector company. This work continues!

This past year, UNITE-LA, in partnership with the L.A. County Justice, Care and Opportunities Department, improved pathways into tech careers for systems-involved individuals (SIIs) by launching the Step into Tech program - a five-week, 15-hour tech career pathway program for SIIs and congruent programming for tech employers to increase inclusive recruitment, hiring and retention practices. The next Step into Tech cohort starts May 18. See sign up details here.

Our research and programming inform our policy agenda, which is why in 2022, after UNITE-LA and the Californians for Safety and Justice released the Getting Back to Work: Revamping the Economy by Removing Past Records report, we advocated for SB 731. It successfully passed so that almost all old convictions on those who have completed their sentence and gone four years with no further contact with the justice system are permanently sealed. The report estimates that the California economy loses $20 billion each year as a result of policies that disenfranchise more than seven million potential workers with past conviction records.