Frequently Asked Questions:
Prison Professors Charitable Corporation (PPCC) is an IRS-approved nonprofit, registered in the State of California.
What is the IRS number of PPCC:
- IRS Number: 85-2603315
What is the California entity number, as registered with the California Secretary of State:
- C4627431
What is the stated mission of PPCC:
- PPCC exists to improve outcomes for justice-impacted people and to improve outcomes of the criminal justice system by helping justice-impacted people prepare for law-abiding, tax-paying work that will empower them to live as contributing citizens.
- PPCC distributes books, lesson plans, and job-training services to justice-impacted people.
- We teach people how to teach themselves.
Who is the founder of PPCC:
- Michael Santos is the founder of PPCC.
Does Michael Santos have a history with the criminal justice system.
- Yes. Authorities arrested Michael Santos in 1987, when he was 23. A federal judge sentenced Michael Santos to 45 years in federal prison. Michael Santos served 9,500 days in federal prisons. He served time in prisons of every security level.
What qualifies Michael Santos to oversee the mission of PPCC:
- While serving 26 years in federal prison, Michael earned an undergraduate degree from Mercer University and a graduate degree from Hofstra University.
- While incarcerated, academic publishers brought books that Michael wrote to market. University professors from across the country used books Michael wrote to teach students about the criminal justice system.
- Upon his release, San Francisco State University hired Michael as an adjunct professor to teach students about the criminal justice system.
- While working as a professor, Michael began creating digital courses to help people in prison learn skills that will empower them upon release to work as law-abiding, contributing citizens.
- Federal judges, federal probation officers, federal and state prison officials, and school administrators issued purchase orders for products and services that Michael created to improve outcomes for justice-impacted people, and for their institutions.
What is a justice-impacted person?
- Any person that has been charged with a crime, or any family member of a person that has been charged with a crime.
How does PPCC work to improve the outcomes of the justice system?
- PPCC creates proprietary content and also distributes digital content that it licenses from others to teach people how to emerge successfully, as law-abiding, contributing citizens, after challenges with the criminal justice system.
- PPCC offers job-training programs for justice-impacted people.
- PPCC provides paid job assignments that justice-impacted people may accept as part of its job-training program.
- PPCC publishes content to help taxpaying citizens understand the collateral consequences for justice-impacted people.
How does PPCC generate revenues to support its mission?
- PPCC sponsors and donors provide tax-deductible contributions to support the mission of PPCC.
- PPCC generates revenues by providing work to entities or individual customers that retain PPCC for services.
What is a customer of PPCC?
- A customer of PPCC is an individual or entity that signs an agreement for the retention of services that PPCC will provide.
Who owns the intellectual property or services that PPCC provides?
- Customers that pay PPCC own the intellectual property or services that it contracts with PPCC to produce.
What type of work does PPCC complete for customers?
- Writing assignments
- Research assignments
- Graphic design assignments
- Publishing assignments
- Web-related work assignments
What are the responsibilities of the customer to PPCC?
- The customer must provide a clear job assignment.
- The customer understands that a justice-impacted person will complete the job assignment.
- The customer will pay invoices that PPCC provides within 30 days.
What responsibility does PPCC have to customers and sponsors?
- PPCC will train justice-impacted people for the job market.
- PPCC will provide income opportunities to justice-impacted people.
- PPCC will spread awareness of the collateral consequences of mass incarceration.
- PPCC will work to improve outcomes for the criminal justice system and for justice-impacted people.
Does PPCC employ people as W-2 employees?
- No, PPCC does not offer full-time, W-2 employment to people because it lacks a location and resources for administrative staff.
Does PPCC offer independent contractor agreements?
- Yes, PPCC offers independent contractor agreements to justice-impacted people.
Where do contractors for PPCC reside?
- PPCC offers income opportunities for justice-impacted people, regardless of where they live.
What type of work do independent contractors perform for PPCC?
- Independent contractors perform writing assignments, research assignments, graphic design assignments, publishing assignments, web-related work assignments.
- Independent contractors may complete their assignments on their own time, from any location they choose.
How does PPCC pay independent contractors for services?
- PPCC publishes a job assignment.
- The contractor agrees to accept the job assignment at a specified project rate.
- Upon completion of the project, the contractor sends an email invoice to PPCC.
- PPCC pays the contractor in accordance with the written agreement it has in place with the independent contractor.
How do independent contractors benefit from providing services to PPCC?
- PPCC provides job training and a bridge for justice-impacted people.
- Justice-impacted people benefit by gaining verifiable work experience.
- Justice-impacted people complete jobs that enhance a resume and work experience in the job market.
- Justice-impacted people earn a taxable income from the work they produce.
What does the independent contractor sign:
- All independent contractors for PPCC sign a written contractual agreement that confirms the following:
- The Contractor strives to generate income by providing similar services to other businesses.
- The Contractor is providing services directly to PPCC, and not to the customers of the PPCC.
- The Contractor has a written agreement with PPCC.
- The Contractor may work from any location the Contractor chooses.
- The PPCC does not place any restrictions on how the Contractor completes his or her work, or with whom the Contractor works.
- The Contractor is available to provide similar services to others that may retain the Contractor without interference from PPCC.
- The Contractor uses its own tools to perform services.
- The Contractor can negotiate its own rates.
- The Contractor can set its own hours and location of work.
- The Contractor is not performing the type of work that requires a license.
- The Contractor has subject-matter expertise and may perform the same type of work with another hiring entity for the same type of work.
- The Contractor regularly exercises discretion and independent judgment in performing the Services.
- The Contractor must always operate in compliance with the law.
- The Contractor may not, at any time, misrepresent any Work to a customer of PPCC.
- The Contractor receives job training from PPCC that will assist the Contractor in the development of income opportunities with other entities.
- The Contractor understands the mission of PPCC, as defined above.
What does PPCC follow with Independent Contractors:
- PPCC announces an assignment.
- Independent contractor agrees to accept assignment at the agreed upon rate.
- Independent contractor completes the assignment.
- Independent contractor sends an email invoice for the work completed.
- PPCC sends contractor payment for the work performed.
- Independent contractor will keep records and pay appropriate income taxes.
