Transportation
The resident has several forms of transportation available to them while residing at the Bradley Center. Availability depends upon where the individual is working.
Local Bus If the work site is in Michigan City, there are many areas that are currently served by the municipal bus system.
South Shore Railroad The Bradley Center is located 5 blocks from the 11th Street South Shore station in Michigan City. This provides easy availability to cities and towns from South Bend to Hammond, and at times the Chicago area. Often they can connect with bus systems in other cities to get to work. Especially during the work week, the South Shore runs on a very regular schedule that makes it reasonably convenient.
Other Bus Service A number of the cities served by the South Shore also have their own bus systems which usually can be used without trouble.
Walking The resident can reasonably walk to many places in Michigan City, or to places of work that are near the various South Shore stations.
Bicycle In the past, we have had residents purchase their own bicycles to get to work in the Michigan City area.
Personal Driving If the resident has obtained driving privileges, and has an approved vehicle available to him, then the resident can drive to work.
Hours
Because of other programming and residential needs, the Federal Bureau of Prisons limits the hours the resident can be away from the Bradley Center for work is 60 hours per week including travel time, unless approved otherwise.
Cell Phones
If the duties involved at work include the use of a “work” cell phone, the resident has to receive permission from the Bradley Center Director to use the work cell phone.
Accountability
Accountability is a term the Bureau of Prisons uses to reflect their need to keep track of where the resident is at any one time. The resident is still the Bureau of Prisons responsibility, so they are going to keep in close contact with the resident, and they require the Bradley Center to accomplish this for them.
Work Requirements
(1) The Bureau of Prisons requires the resident to be able to call into the Bradley Center security desk (using our 877 toll free number when out of Michigan City) when they first arrive at the work place, and then when they have finished working, and are ready to leave the work place at the end of their shift. The work place has to agree to make a phone available to them for this purpose.
(2) The work place also has to agree to notify the Bradley Center if the resident leaves early on their own, whether unexplained or sick.
(3) The work site also has to agree for the Bradley Center to call the work site randomly by telephone on a daily basis -- usually only a couple of times per day – or occasionally by a visit from a Bradley Center staff person, to check to see if the resident is at work. The name and number of a supervisor or HR person needs to be provided who will take the call, and be responsible to verify the resident is at the work site.
(4) Once the resident starts to work, the work site has to be visited by Bradley Center staff within 7 days, and the above provisions have to be agreed to in writing. If these agreements are not accomplished, then the resident is not allowed to work for that employer.
Prohibited Employment
There are certain types of work places or environments that are prohibited by the Bureau of Prisons. Generally they are situations that could possibly indicate areas where there may problems, such as tattoo parlors, and most alcoholic bar type situations -- not necessarily a restaurant that happens to also serve alcoholic beverages. You need to check with the resident’s case manager
Pay Stub Requirements
Each Bradley Center resident who is working, has to be paid with a legitimate paycheck and has to have regular pay deductions taken out of the gross pay and listed on a stub (e.g. income tax, state income tax, social security tax, county tax, etc.). The resident cannot have their pay represented on a 1099 form. There has to be regular pay period deductions and the accompanying pay stub to represent them; the stub also need to reflect the dates for the pay/deduction period. Otherwise, the Bureau of Prisons will not allow the resident to work at that particular establishment.
Employment Driving Privileges
The resident will be allowed to drive at work if certain conditions are met:
(1) They are legal to drive in the state
(2) They are approved by the work place to drive the vehicle
(3) They are able to maintain accountability during the time of driving (see the Accountability section above), the accountability procedure needs to be worked out with the resident’s case manager. Once the accountability procedure is established, this needs to be approved by the Bradley Center Director, which is done quite regularly when the “accountability procedure” is established adequately.
Required Wednesday Night Meeting
All residents at the Bradley Center are required to attend a house meeting each Wednesday night starting at 6:30pm. Some are also required to stay for an additional meeting that starts almost immediately afterward, these residents are required to be available until 8:00pm, but this second meeting usually ends well before 8:00pm.
Special Program Attendance
Some residents are involved in a special program required by the Bureau of Prisons, which includes mandatory attendance. This may necessitate extra time or a special schedule to accommodate this special required program. In the past, employers who are willing to accommodate this need, have typically used some form of rearranged work schedules to assist in this. There are various ways this arrangement can be accomplished; for example, the resident may leave work early or arrive at a later time to accommodate for an appointment, and then work a little longer on one of the other days. Over the years, we have had a number of residents who have been required to participate in a special program, in which the employer easily rearranged the schedule so they could employ the resident.
Out of State Employment
Most of the Bradley Center residents obtain work in the State of Indiana, but at times, there is a good reason for the resident to obtain a job close by in a neighboring state, such as Illinois or Michigan, such as if the resident worked there previously and is returning to the same job. These are work situations that are typically just over the state line. If the resident is on Home Detention (read about Home Detention on the main blog site; there is a link to it on this site), then the work site location may be somewhat further.
