Offender Employment : Reentry

Creating a Workforce Development Culture To Reduce Reincarceration

Scott — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:24:00 GMT

In the mid-1990s, offender reentry gained visibility as an important public policy issue. At that time, organizations such as the U.S. Department of Education (ED), the National Institute of Corrections (NIC), and the National Institute of Justice began exploring offender workforce development strategies as an avenue for promoting the successful reintegration of offenders into communities. These strategies stem from the idea that offender employment builds communities, increases the economic self-sufficiency of families, strengthens fragile families, and provides structure and support for those seeking to remain crime free.

In 2003, ED's Life Skills for State and Local Prisoners Program awarded a 3-year, $1 million research/ demonstration grant to support Vermont's Workforce Development Program. Correctional administrators in Vermont aimed to reduce recidivism by 25 percent for offenders with poor work histories and moderate to high risk of reoffending by using a strengths-based approach to teach fundamental life skills throughout education, work, and living units.

This strengths-based program approach is built on participants' understanding and use of the "Habits of Mind," which are 16 aspects of behavioral intelligence, or life skills, that foster effective problem solving. In addition to reducing recidivism by 25 percent and reinforcing participants' acquisition of the Habits of Mind, the Workforce Development Program targeted a 90percent employment rate within 1 month of release and sought to make changes in the organizational culture at each of three program sites.

Read the rest of NIC's Transition and Offender Workforce Development Bulletin on NIC's website.

NIC's 'Online/Kiosk Employment Application Simulation' Used in New York's Digital Reentry Programs

llinke — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:42:00 GMT

The summer issue of New York State Department of Correctional Services' quarterly newsletter, DOCS Today, includes a summary of their expanding use of digital reentry programming. See page 8. Computer labs (not internet accessible) are used to both deliver services and increase computer literacy for inmates nearing release. Nearly 12,000 inmates have used the labs for self-guided career tutorials, skills assessments, access to statewide job databases, and developing basic computer skills. NIC's simulated online job application also prepares inmates to apply online for jobs, or apply at automated kiosks. Watch for a related Information Bulletin, "Career Resource Centers: An Emerging Strategy for Improving Offender Employment Outcomes," to be released by NIC later this summer.

From Prison to Work: Overcoming Barriers to Reentry

Scott — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:42:00 GMT

From Prison to Work: Overcoming Barriers to Reentry

A Hamilton Project Policy Discussion

Friday, December 5, 2008, 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

The National Press Club Ballroom, 529 14th Street NW, Washington, DC

On December 5, The Hamilton Project will host a policy discussion on the challenges of prisoner reentry. Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin will give welcoming remarks and introduce U.S. Senator Jim Webb who will give the keynote address. Federal, state and local governments are feeling the strain of a vastlyexpanded penal system that supports over 2.25 million inmates nationwide. With 700,000 people released from prison each year, there is a social andeconomic imperative to create policies that help newly released prisoners transition into their communities and maintain stable employment. Following the keynote address, The Hamilton Project will host a policy roundtable on this important issue. Bruce Western of Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government will provide an overview of his new proposal, which will be released as a Hamilton Project discussion paper. Western envisions a national prisoner reentry program that would combine transitional employment, housing and substance abuse treatment with in-prison education and post-release parole reform. A panel of experts, including Scott Anders with the U.S. Probation Office in the Eastern District of Missouri, Glenn Martin with the Fortune Society, and Michael Thomas, prosecuting attorney for Saginaw County, Michigan, will comment on the proposal and offer perspectives based on their diverse, on-the-ground experiences. Brookings Senior Fellow and Hamilton Project Director Douglas W. Elmendorf will moderate the discussion. After each segment of the program, the panelists will take audience questions.

To RSVP, please visit

http://guest.cvent.com/i.aspx?4W,M3,92a94212-cd6b-4d4c-91c5-35ba60a1822a

2009 Defendant/Offender Workforce Development Conference

Scott — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 21:21:00 GMT

Go here for information about the 2009 Defendant/Offender Workforce Development Conference which will occur on April 5-8, 2009 in Pittsburgh, PA. See you there!

Federal, local governments offering tax incentives to hire parolees

Scott — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:12:00 GMT

Getting Out of Prison and Into a Job: Federal, local governments offering tax incentives to hire parolees

This article discusses the growing desire to employ ex-offenders and the various tax incentives that are available through Federal and local governments.

Capitol Hill lawmakers discuss ex-offenders in the federal workforce

Scott — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 18:19:00 GMT

According to governmentexecutive.com:

"The government should do more to assure individuals with criminal records that they are not barred from certain types of federal employment, lawmakers said on Tuesday.

At a hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce, members of Congress said hiring ex-offenders could help many of them as they re-enter communities and also help government as it addresses impending staff shortages."

Read the full article right here.

Download and read each testimony by going here.

Hire ex-con in Philly, get $10K annual tax credit

Scott — Tue, 27 May 2008 19:35:00 GMT

From the Associated Press:

"Philadelphia averaged a murder a day the past two years and has been sued to reduce its overcrowded, record-high jail population.

So on his 100th day in office last month, Mayor Michael Nutter announced a program, being headed by an ex-offender, that gives $10,000 a year in municipal tax credits to companies that hire former prisoners and provide them tuition support or vocational training."

Read the full article here.

Read a related article here.

ARCHS' Community Action Re-Entry Employment System (CARES) Community Partnership

Scott — Tue, 27 May 2008 16:45:00 GMT

The ARCHS' Community Action Re-Entry Employment System (CARES) Community Partnership focuses on job training and lifeskills services for ex-offenders returning to the St. Louis region. Partners of this program include U.S Dept. of Labor, St. Louis Community College, and the Eastern District of Missouri U.S. Probation office. For more information about the ARCH's CARES program, go here and then read the article in the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

Governor Schwarzenegger speaks about importance of work skills

Scott — Mon, 12 May 2008 12:55:00 GMT

Governor Schwarzenegger attended the graduation ceremony of female inmates from the Career Technical Education-Carpentry program at the California Institution for Women in Corona. Click here to watch Gov. Schwarzenneger talk about the important work of the California PI Authority in teaching inmates work skills to turn their lives around.

Interview with Diana Bailey from inside the MDSE Mobile Unit

Scott — Thu, 01 May 2008 13:39:00 GMT

Maryland's Correctional Education Transition Mobile Unit was recently featured at the National Defender/Workforce Conference in Cleveland, Ohio. The Mobile Unit provides transitional information and library services for inmates in the pre-release system in Maryland. The unit, which was designed and is operated by the Maryland State Department of Education, travels across the Maryland to prepare men and women for release from incarceration into the community and employment.

The video below is an interview with Diana Bailey, Workforce Development/Transition Coordinator with the Maryland State Department of Education, from inside the Mobile Unit.

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Jefferson City, Missouri OWDS Graduation - April 29, 2008

Scott — Thu, 01 May 2008 12:28:00 GMT

On April 29, 2008, at the Department of Corrections Central Training Academy in Jefferson City, Missouri, 18 participants were recognized for successfully completing Offender Workforce Development Specialist Partnership Training (OWDS). They received their certificates of completion from OWDS program manager Susie Edwards. Assisting Ms. Edwards as instructors were Quincy Fountain, Steve Gibson, Lisa Johnson, Rodney Henry, Kevin Knickerbocker, Linda Wise, and Jennifer Williams.

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Video: George Keiser of NIC discusses the Relationship between EBP and Employment

Scott — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:59:00 GMT

In this video, George Keiser (Chief of the National Institute of Corrections Community Corrections Division) discusses the relationship between Evidence Based Practices and employment. Double click the video to view the full screen version.

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Offender Workforce Development Announcements: Conferences, Grants

Scott — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:43:00 GMT

NCDA Global Conference: July 9-11, 2008
The National Career Development Association is excited to announce the 2008 NCDA Global Conference. The conference will be held at the wonderful Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill, Washington D.C., July 9-11, 2008. You won't want to miss this great opportunity to attend this conference! NCDA is expecting 1,000+ attendees at the premiere conference for career development professionals across all areas of career development and in all settings. For more information, click here.

White House To Host Faith-Based and Community Initiatives Conferences

The White House is hosting a series of 2008 conferences designed to connect effective social service organizations with resources that can strengthen and expand the services they offer. The conferences will provide an understanding of the President's Faith-Based and Community Initiative and information about the Federal grants process, funding opportunities, and the responsibilities that come with Federal funding.

The conferences are scheduled as follows:

May 29-30, in New Orleans, LA
June 26-27, in Washington, DC
August 5, in Sacramento, CA
August 29, in Dallas, TX.

Go to http://www.dtiassociates.com/fbci/index.cfm for more informatino.

U.S. Department of Labor awards nearly $3 million to advance President's Prisoner Re-entry Initiative

The U.S. Department of Labor has announced grants totaling almost $3 million to advance the President's Prisoner Re-entry Initiative. Through a partnership operated with the U.S. Department of Justice, grants of $130,434 each will go to 23 criminal justice agencies across the country. They, in turn, will fund faith-based and community organizations to deliver employment services to prisoners returning to civilian life. For more information, click here.

The Performance Benchmarking Project

The Performance Benchmarking Project is seeking prisoner reentry/employment organizations to participate in the next round of data collection. P/PV is developing a tool that allows similar organizations to anonymously compare their job placement and retention outcomes. A long-term goal of the project is to identify meaningful outcome benchmarks for the workforce development field, so that practitioners, funders and policymakers can be better informed about what constitutes "good" performance when working with diverse populations and service delivery strategies.

To be eligible, organizations must directly provide workforce development services to individuals 18 or older and be able to submit aggregate data on job placement and retention results, services and participant characteristics for a recent one-year cohort of enrollees. For a summary of the requested data, please click here.

Presidents 2008 Community Based Job Training Grant Awardees

Click here for the list of awardees.

Podcast with Kansas Secretary of Corrections Roger Werholtz

Scott — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:10:00 GMT

In this three part podcast, John Rakis speaks with the Offender Workforce Development Specialist (OWDS) Program Manager for Kansas, Jim Chastain, and Kansas Secretary of Corrections Roger Werholtz. You can access the podcast by going to www.nicic.gov/owdpodcasts.

Jim Chastain and Secretary Werholtz discuss the impact of OWDS training on recidivism and the prison population, and a unique partnership with the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks.

Travis County to Remove the Felony Conviction Question?

Scott — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:04:00 GMT

From the Austin American Statesman:

"Sometime in the coming weeks, Travis County commissioners will likely remove the question on county job applications that asks, "have you ever been convicted of any crime?"

That question would be asked later in the interview process. The commissioners say they hope the change, intended as much for its symbolism as its practical effect, will remove a red flag that can cause managers to immediately toss an application in the trash.

"We're weeding them out before they have a chance to show their skills," said County Judge Sam Biscoe, chairman of the Commissioners Court and chief proponent of a new county policy. "It's my guess we're losing a lot of good applicants."