Becoming an inmate firefighter ended my cycle of imprisonment (bonus interview)

Shannon Clark had been in and out of prison for about a decade before she qualified to participate in California’s conservation camp program, which employs incarcerated men and women to fight wildfires.
Watch our other videos in the series:
Can California's formerly incarcerated make firefighting a career?
• Can California's forme...
How a new California law could help inmate firefighters (extended interview)
• How a new California l...
I became a professional firefighter after prison (extended interview)
• I became a professiona...
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[@epramos6800]

I wish them luck the problem with the US is people dont want to give these former inmates who want to contribute and be productive. The structure they need to be successful is to become a wildland firefighter and they should be given an chance to succeed.

[@hamidullaha.saahir9144]

It's sad that a former prisoner who worked as a firefighter while imprisoned, as she did, but because he came to America as a illegal child, and after being released he was put into the custody of DHS by the sheriff department and deported back to a country he doesn't know.

[@kimhartleywellywood]

Good on her for holding out till her opportunity came along.

[@christinegelabert1651]

I REALLY hope that she doesn't lose her focus and go back to using drugs to take away her pain and all these frustrations she's going through. Ppl DON'T know there's something called Moral Turpetude that FDs can use even though the bill has been passed in the meanwhile while ppl are waiting for their records to be expunged. IF you've been convicted of a crime THEY consider to be something they feel is a threat like her PREVIOUS violent crimes involving hikes. They can STILL refuse the hire her even with her experience. YES! EVEN THOUGH SHE WAS AT A LOWER LEVEL PRISON in order to get into the Fire Camp Program in the FIRST PLACE! I'm an international prisoner advocate for OVER 35 years and I've also studied Paralegal. I'm ALSO the daughter of a lifetime firefighter! So this IS one of my causes. Just so you all know~we have had fire camps in existence for OVER 80 years. YES EIGHT ZERO....that was not a typo! There's another video out that's also post Covid and ibe of the fire camp lady firefighters was saying that SHE was the highest paid one. They were paying HER~35 CENTS AN HOUR! Most if the guys get $1 ab hour and another guy in her video said he was getting 65 CEHTS an hour and HE was the highest paid out his camp. THIS IS SLAVE LABOR FOLKS AND IT MUST STOP! Ppl don't realize that Prisoners who work on the ACTUAL prison farms taking care and harvesting the plants LIKE SLAVES MAKE MORE per hour than most of these other fire camp prisoners. The reasoning behind this is that there is THE CHANCE (not a guarantee) of an earlier parole. Also the fact that they get to sleep outside of their prison and they get to eat the same food as the regular firefighters. YUP. Ppl ALSO don't realize that when you are ON PAROLE~YOU PAY F"OR THE PLEASURE" TO BE SUPERVISED"BY THEM!!! YOU ALSO PAY FOR EACH TIME THEY DECIDE TO URINE TEST YOU. This IS ADDED TO EVERY PERSON IN PAROLE EVEN IF YOUR CASE DIDN'T INVOLVE A DRUG CHARGE. So when you MAX OUT on your sentence and have FULLY paid your debt to society BY serving every single day if your court imposed sentence according to the STATES STATUTES. They STILL out you under governmental control for SEVERAL MORE YEARS BY ADDING ON PAROLE. YOUR sentence from the judge let's say was a 7 TO 12 YEARS sentence. You never missed a day...you showed up # 2 pencil✏️ in hand and on time every time they called your name UNTIL that 12 YEARS WAS UP! YOU are hit a free person. Your sentence did not say 7 TO 12... PLUS PAROLE. IT SAYS YOU MAX OUT AT 12 YEARS that you just did. Yet you NOW have to deal with a MINIMUM of another 3 TO 5 YEARS IF GOVERNMENTAL CONTROL! YOU ARE NOT FREE IN ANY SENSE OF THE WORD CONSIDERING THEY BTW CAN COME TO YOUR JOB OR HOME AND DEMAND YOURS URUHEE HAIR TEST

[@PolarBalcony563]

It sucks that they don't let them become actual firefighters when they get out