Five Keys Adult School         Five Keys Independence High School

Internship Program


Program Founded: 1998

Population Served: Ex-offenders in the city and county of San Francisco

Key Elements: Employment training, counseling, education, paid internship

Goals: To provide opportunities for participants to assume leadership roles and visibility in the community, and to change perceptions about offenders and ex-offenders in the criminal justice system, in the community at large, and most importantly, in the interns themselves.

Description: Upon reentry, offenders are often stigmatized, at risk for relapse into criminal behaviors, and isolated from community life including employment opportunities. The Internship Program provides ex-offenders with a multifaceted employment training track and on-the-job-training which includes advancing their education, developing "soft" skills, and referrals to jobs whether working in the private sector or human services agencies as peer counselors.



The Internship Program consists of the following three components:

- In-Jail: During incarceration, interns participate in general education, job development, life skills, case management, and/or substance abuse classes. Program curriculum is designed to hold offenders accountable for their actions, while restructuring the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that fuel criminal behavior and repairing the harm caused to their victims. Active participation in these programs is a required pre-requisite to the Internship Program.

- Post Release: Upon release, interns receive counseling and support in substance abuse, parenting, and life skills. The participants attend the Sheriff Departments Post Release Education Program (PREP) while receiving support with a guided employment search. Participants meet in weekly support groups with a facilitator who addresses basic therapeutic and life skills issues.

- Internship Training Program: Interns complete a six-month training curriculum which prepares them to work as facilitators/case managers in the field of human services. Others develop skills which can be applied in the private sector. Interns use their personal experience and acquired knowledge to make a positive impact on their community, while gaining valuable work experience that will lead to permanent placement in a rewarding career.