February 12, 2025
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UMPI students organizing Bangor job fair

PRESQUE ISLE – Although the academic year is over, students in the criminal justice program at the University of Maine at Presque Isle are still working on a project they believe will benefit a Bangor-based program.

The criminal justice students are recruiting employers for a job fair for the Women’s Transition Center in Bangor.

They are looking for Bangor-area employers to participate in the event, which will take place from 10 a.m. to noon Thursday, June 26, at the Transition Center.

The 40-bed facility is at the Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center. It is overseen by Volunteers of America Northern New England Inc., in partnership with the state Department of Corrections.

The center is designed for female offenders from the Maine Correctional Center at Windham who are preparing to transition back into the community. The women at the facility are nonviolent, minimum-risk offenders in the last 18 months of their sentences. Most have GEDs and many have some college education.

The job fair is geared toward assisting female offenders who are finishing prison sentences and preparing to re-enter society.

During the job fair, a number of area colleges will provide resume and interviewing workshops during the event.

Lisa Leduc, an UMPI criminal justice professor who is overseeing the project, said in a statement that the job fair has two purposes: to help connect the women with local businesses, and to help “demystify them in the eyes of local employers.”

“This is an untapped labor resource for employers and we want them to be open-minded when looking at applicants with a felony conviction,” she said.

Twelve criminal justice students are participating in the service learning project, which is being completed as part of their honors class, “Women and Crime.” Students interviewed women at the center to understand the type of work they were looking for and researched a similar job fair that took place last summer at the Maine Correctional Center in Windham. The students determined that several companies had a positive experience at that event and some had even hired women who were at the fair. Several participants expressed a willingness to take part again.

Leduc said the job fair is her students’ attempt to help female offenders deal with a specific challenge – getting a job, which has been shown to be an important tool to avoid recidivism. The women are not often given job interviews or call-backs because they have to check off “felon” on job applications.

Leduc said recruiting more employers remains a top priority even though the semester has ended for the students.

“It’s very important for these employers to know that they are under no obligation to hire anyone because they participate,” Leduc said. “We’re just hoping they will meet these women and learn more about them as potential employees.”

June Koegel, president and chief executive officer of Volunteers of America Northern, said, “This is the type of event that we could not have done on our own.

“Everyone wins. The women gain a potentially life-changing opportunity for work that pays a living wage from employers that care. The students get unique first-hand experience in the field and a true sense of accomplishment. Employers meet new qualified employees that are eager to work and build a secure future for themselves and their families. Maine and its citizens save money because so many of the women don’t return to prison.”

To find out more about participating in the event, contact Leduc at 768-9436 or lisa.leduc@umpi.edu.

jlbdn@ainop.com

768-5681


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