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Tax Preparation Available at the SLATE Missouri Career Center

Beginning Thursday, February 1, lower-income tax payers and those over the age of 55 can have their taxes prepared at no cost. Persons eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit are eligible and should bring this information with them. To make an appointment and learn of the documents you need to bring in order to have your taxes prepared, please call (314) 613-3025.

SLATE Missouri Career Center Finds Job for Ex-Offender

ST. LOUIS—In a recent Bill McClellan column, the story of Alan Varrin’s criminal past, jail time, spiritual rehabilitation and subsequent release ended with a question: “What good is saving an inmate’s soul if there isn’t a jobs program to help him when he gets out?”

The answer to, at least part of, the question for Alan Varrin and others like him was found at the St. Louis Agency on Training and Employment (SLATE) Missouri Career Center. Three days after the February 16 article was published, Varrin was offered a full-time job with Cautrell Enterprises.  

Hundreds of ex-offenders are released on a yearly basis to the St. Louis area, and the SLATE Missouri Career Center is the City of St. Louis agency that many use in their search for a job. 

Those who are serious about changing their lives for the better, whether by their own strength, a “moral compass” such as religious faith, and/or support from their families and communities, are usually successful in finding employment.

There are many efforts on the part of government agencies, faith based and community organizations, as well as for-profit companies, to assist ex-offenders in their job search.

A challenge these organizations face is finding businesses that will hire someone with a criminal record.  Most people coming out of prison do not want to go back and desperately want to work and prove to themselves, their families and their communities that they are valuable and can do a good job.

Hiring an ex-offender can have an added bonus of making sure the employee is reliable, drug-free and dependable.  Probationers and parolees must have and keep a job within 30 days of release, so they will not only show up every day, they will show up on time to keep the job.  Drug testing is also done on a regular basis, so the employer doesn’t have to worry about that problem. 

The government also provides other incentives to hiring ex-offenders through tax credits and Federal bonding, which is basically an insurance plan to cover any losses incurred because of that employee.

If you would like more information on how Varrin got his job, how others who are unemployed or underemployed (customers include laid off airline pilots, retail vice-presidents, customer service reps and everyone in between), call the SLATE Missouri Career Center at 314-589-8000.