To be eligible for our program you must be:

• A Laney College student+
• Enrolled in at least 3 units
• A student who was formerly incarcerated*

+Laney College is your home campus (the majority of units are at Laney College)

*Former incarceration can include simple arrest, juvenile or women’s detention, city and/or county jail, state and/or federal prison, or military, immigrant or psychiatric detention.

Onboarding

• Support with CCCApply and Laney College application
• Support filling out FAFSA (Financial Aid)
• Support with using Campus Solutions and Canvas

Academic Assistance

• Informal Tutoring** (student and staff support)
• Peer mentoring
• Staff advising+
• Academic Counseling
• University Transfer Assistance and Support

Housing Referral

• 211 Alameda County
• Bay Area Community Services (BACS)

Clean Slate

• Alameda County Public Defender’s Office – Clean Slate Clinic
• Clear My Record

Material Support

• Direct Assistance and Matched Savings (Sparkpoint)
• Weekly BART Tickets
• Books and Supplies

**Dependent on office conditions and student or staff availability.

+Not counseling.

ROC pipelines formerly incarcerated students into living wage job industries through community partnerships and Laney College's Career Technical Education (CTE) programs. ROC works closely with Laney's CTE faculty and staff to provide workforce training support. Programs that have committed to work with formerly incarcerated students include:

• Culinary
• Cosmetology
• Environmental Control Technology (HVAC, Building Automation & Maintenance)
• Machining
• Welding
• Wood Technology

Through our community partnerships, ROC provides pathways to employment opportunities for students who are enrolled in our CTE programs.

EOPS, CARE, NextUp and CalWORKs

• EOPS is an academic support program for first generation students (students who are the first in their family to attend college), low-income (students who qualify for BOG fee waiver) and disadvantaged students of color (African American, Latino or Native American). 

• CARE is a supplemental component of EOPS for single parents on Welfare (TANF). 

• Next Up (formerly CAFYES) is an academic support program for former or current foster youth or probation youth. 

• The Laney CalWORKs Program is for students on Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF). 

Disabled Student Program and Services (DSP&S) is a program that determines and provides support for academic accommodations for students with disabilities.

Veterans Affairs is an academic support program for students who are veterans of the United States Armed Services.

Umoja-UBAKA is a program with a focus on supporting African American students (but all students can apply) success.

Community Resources (Education)

Berkeley Underground Scholars: A program for formerly incarcerated and systems impacted students at UC Berkeley. For more information contact Azadeh Zohrabi at azadehzohrabi@berkeley.edu.

Project Rebound: A program for formerly incarcerated at San Francisco State University. For more information, contact projectrebound@asi.sfsu.edu.

Street Scholars: A program for formerly incarcerated students at Merritt College. For more information contact Ron Moss at ronmoss@gambleinstitute.org.

New D.R.E.A.M.: A program for formerly incarcerated students at College of Alameda. For more information contact New Dream Coordinator Tia Barnes at tbarnes@peralta.edu.

Community Financial Resources (CFR)

CFR hosts workshops for our participants and the campus community on topics like debt management, credit building and management, and budgeting (among other topics). They provide our members with a pre-paid debit card (US Bank Focus Card). For more information about CFR, click this link.

Record Relief

We refer students (who qualify) to the Alameda County’s Public Defender’s Clean Slate Program and are building relationships with other County Public defender’s Offices in California. We assist students with drafting their Letter to the Judge and we write a ROC Letter of Support on their behalf. For more information, click this link.

Sparkpoint Oakland

ROC has partnered with Sparkpoint/EBALDC to provide financial coaching to our students. Sparkpoint provides financial coaching to help students with building, maintaining, or establishing credit, learning how to start and follow a budget, tax preparation, and specialized services like direct assistance and the matched savings program. Contact ROC Staff for more information.

Education & Career Guide for Formerly Incarcerated Individuals

Click this link to access Study.com’s guide for formerly incarcerated students offers in-depth information in several areas, including:

• Information on different re-entry assistance programs

• Getting your GED after incarceration

• Financial aid & scholarships for previously incarcerated individuals

• Finding employment after incarceration

1. I am currently incarcerated. Can I apply for school?
   • Yes, you can. Whoever is enrolling on your behalf should make sure they have ALL of your information (email, birthdate, social security number) and tie your application to an email they have access to. They should also record and send you all of the usernames, passwords, and security questions for your CCCID*, and FSAID**.
2. Won’t felonies keep me from getting financial aid?
   • It depends. Your financial aid may be affected if you caught a drug conviction while you were receiving financial aid. If you did not catch a drug conviction while receiving financial aid, you should have no problems. For more information, click here.
3. Can I enroll without a High School Diploma or GED?
   • Yes you can. However, you will be unable to receive financial aid. For more information, click here.
4. I was just released and it’s the middle of the semester. Can I still enroll?
   • Yes you can. However, if there are no late start classes available, you will have to wait for the following semester to take classes. In this time, you can finish the Student Support and Success Program (formerly matriculation) which consists of online orientation; completing an assessment test or the interest survey, seeing a counselor and completing a Student Educational Plan (SEP) with the counselor. For more information, click here.
5. I have college credits already. Can I use them instead of taking the same class at Laney?
   • Possibly. You will have to get your official transcripts from the school you received credit at and bring them to your counseling appointment. (Note: to be “official”, a counselor has to open the unopened transcripts during your counseling appointment. If you open the letter with your “official” transcripts enclosed, they will no longer be “official” and you will have to send for them again.) The counselor will determine if your credits articulate (meaning Laney College accepts them as equivalent courses).
6. What are the first steps I need to take to enroll?
   • The first step is to apply through CCC Apply (make sure you choose Laney College as your home campus). (Note: make sure you have access to whatever email you use to set up your account. You will receive vital information through this email and if you do not have access to it, you will run into a lot of problems.)
   • Once you have created your CCCID, complete your application for Laney College. It takes 48 hours for Laney College to receive your information and send you your student ID/username and password (sometimes it happens in an hour so check your email). You will need this information to complete the Laney College New Student Orientation.
   • While you are waiting to receive your student ID/username and password, complete your FAFSA. If you have never created an FSAID, you will have to create one to complete the FAFSA.
7. Where is your office located?
   • We are located on the second floor of the E Building in Room 203. The E Building is on the West part of the campus off of East 8th Street (if you’re coming from East Oakland) or 7th Street (if you’re coming from Downtown Oakland). We are right across the street from student and staff/faculty parking lot A. Please refer to the campus map.
8. Is the campus open?
   • Yes, the campus is open but most classes are still online. If you can’t find the class you need on campus (in-person), you may need to take the class online. They have two different types of online classes: online lectures (where you have to log into Zoom at certain days and times) or non-lecture online classes (where you work at your on pace; finishing online assignments weekly). Choose whichever one works for you. ROC Staff can help, so come by the office if you need support.
9. What if I don’t have a computer?
   • ROC loans Chromebooks and so does Laney College. Please the technology resources and support page for more information.

*CCCID is the profile created on CCCApply.

**FSAID is the profile created for FAFSA (Financial Aid) at https://studentaid.gov/.