Opportunities for Litchfield Inmates
Hope for the future was brought to some of the women at Litchfield State Penitentiary over the weekend. This past Saturday at noon, Litchfield State Penitentiary held workshops for their inmates in order to help prepare them for future careers once they get released. Litchfield’s Warden, Joe Caputo, brought in eleven different job interview specialists and set up different stations in order to help the inmates at Litchfield practice being in a professional setting. The stations each focused on different skills for acquiring a job, as they had everything from how to answer interview questions, to how to dress professionally for the occasion. Warden Caputo spoke on his hopes for what this opportunity could bring the women of Litchfield. “I am really hoping that this experience can help improve some of our inmates’ outlooks on life after prison and hopefully show them the possibilities that they have to help participate in society as they better themselves.” The workshops were open from 12 a.m. until 6 p.m. allowing time for the women to move around to different stations throughout the day.
One of the most popular stations was the best dressed competition that took place in the auditorium at 4 p.m. Local fashion designer, Alice Wong, brought in a variety of different outfits and makeup for the woman to choose between when deciding how they wanted to present themselves. Wong greatly enjoyed the experience as she explained that “it was great to see some of these women exude a new amount of confidence that they normally may not express.” Many of the inates took part in the competition and as it was narrowed down between the final four contestants the auditorium became visibly excited. After each woman explained her reasoning for choosing the outfit that she did, Wong helped analyze which look would be the best fitting based off of the career field that each person was interested in. Inmate, Marisol Gonzalez, ended up winning the contest as her outfit, hair, and makeup were all deemed to represent her aspirations the best. “I definitely deserved to win,” Gonzalez explained. “I am hoping to someday work as a mortician and this experience has given me confidence to try and pursue that once I get out.”
Another staton that helped inspire some of the inmates was the career tests that were administered by career specialist, Ellie Canes. The tests consisted of over a hundred questions that focused on the personality traits, strengths, and interests of each inmate. The results for what they could have ended up with were vast when it came to the different types of career possibilities that were given.“I never really pictured myself as a chef but my test said I would be a good one,” explained inmate Cindy Hayes. Hayes went on to speak about how she was looking forward to pursuing a career in the kitchen so that she could “cook up some stuff at the trap house back home.” The career test was a great way of helping some of the inmates discover new possibilities for themselves that they may have overlooked before. Many of the women were able to leave this station with a new goal in mind, as they focused on what it is that they wanted to do once released.
One of the stations that created a healing experience for many of the inmates was the resume room. In one of the rooms in the prison there was a room that was set up to help many of the inmates work on crafting their own resumes for experience to use in job interviews going forward. There seemed to be a general fear from many of the inmates towards the beginning as
they seemed unsure if they would have anything to put on their resumes at all. After each individual session with a different job interview specialist, however, the tension in the room seemed to be replaced by relief. “I was terrified that I wouldn’t have anything good to say on my resume, but after working on it with Tery I feel much more confident in my chances of getting a job now,” inmate Tiffany Doggett stated.
With this being the first year that a career fair has come to Litchfield, many of the inmates wanted to voice their opinions on how it went for them. Inmate, Lorna Morello, spoke on how she was first skeptical of what this event would entail for her and her friends. “I didn’t really get it at first and was afraid it might seem like more of a depressing joke,” Morello said. “As the day went on, however, and I began to move from station to station, I was able to not only learn new things but also found myself enjoying some of it as well.” Many of the other inmates including Nicky Nichols, Alex Vause, and Piper Chapman, also expressed their enjoyment of the event and their surprise on how well it all seemed to play out. “I may have lost the job interview contest for best dressed,” explained Nichols, “but getting to watch the fights that resulted in Gonzalez winning made it all worth it.” While there was some competitive controversies between some of the competitions at the event, no one was seriously injured and it was all resolved later.
Throughout the day a total of 180 women participated in the different events that were going on. Each station was rendered successful according to Warden Caputo, as many of the inmates were able to find confidence in at least one area. Towards the end of the day Warden Caputo was able to congratulate many of the women who participated in their hard work and
determination for success. He revealed how he was “incredibly proud of the success and confidence that these career stations have been able to bring to the women of Litchfield State Penitentiary.” Caputo is hoping to bring this event back again next year and is looking to get even more outside help to come in and set up new stations. The career stations helped boost the confidence of many of the inmates of Litchfield and helped leave behind a more positive outlook on what the future can hold for them outside of prison.
