Offender Employment : Second Chance Act

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!

DOWD Conference Now Accepting Presentation Proposals

Scott — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:38:00 GMT

The National Planning Committee for the 2009 Defendant / Offender Workforce Development (DOWD) Conference is seeking proposals for the various presentations. The conference is scheduled April 5-8, 2009 in Pittsburgh, PA. All are welcome to apply. The deadline is Monday, September 15^th. Details about the conference and submitting a proposal can be found here.

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.

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.

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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Duration: 3:27

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.

President Signs Second Chance Act

Scott — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:11:00 GMT

The President signed H.R. 1593, the Second Chance Act, on April 9th at 10:30 a.m. Read the transcript of his comments here and the White House fact sheet here.

Click here to read the full text of the Second Chance Act.

Click here for an overview of the Second Chance Act.

Click here, here, and here to read NY Times articles about the Second Chance Act.

Read Chris Uggen's blog entry about the Second Chance Act here.

U.S. Senate Passes Second Chance Act

Scott — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 12:21:00 GMT

The Council of State Governments (CSG) reports that the U.S. Senate has passed the Second Chance Act. According to the CSG, "the legislation passed the Senate by unanimous consent and now proceeds to the President's desk for signature." Information on the Second Chance Act can be found here.

Additionally, the Consensus Project reports that the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the Reauthorization of the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act. The bill would "help provide states and counties with the resources needed to design and implement collaborative efforts between the criminal justice and mental health systems."

3/17/08 Second Chance Act update: According to Yahoo News, "The President is expected to sign the bill soon."

Additional information about the Second Chance Act can be found in the articles below.

PR Newswire: Tubbs Jones Applauds Passage of Second Chance Act in Senate

Wall Street Journal: Senate Clears Prisoner Bill

Standard Newswire: Brownback Applauds Senate Passage of Second Chance Act

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Senate passes bill to help ex-prisoners

Senate to vote on the Second Chance Act this week?

Scott — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 17:22:00 GMT

This update is provided by the Justice Center: Council of State Governments: "Monday evening the U.S. House of Representatives adopted a concurrent resolution that makes minor technical changes to the Second Chance Act of 2007 (H.R.1593), which passed the House on Nov. 13th with a 347-62 vote. The resolution was made to address Senate concerns and includes new language to change the match for state and local government reentry grants and clarify the eligibility requirements for the elderly offender pilot program. This vote brings the legislation one step closer to being signed into law in 2008. Senate sponsors hope to vote on the bill later this week."

Whether or not the vote occurs given all that is going on in Congress remains to be seen. But if the vote happens, the results will be posted on this blog.

Update: According to the Saint Joseph, MO Re-entry Blog, the vote is on hold.

House of Representatives passes the Second Chance Act

Scott — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 13:07:00 GMT

On November 13, 2007, The Second Chance Act (H.R. 1593) passed in the House of Representatives. The vote totals were 347 Ayes, 62 Nays, 23 Present/Not Voting. The bill still requires passage by the Senate.

If the Second Chance Act becomes law in it's current form, the bill requires the Attorney General to:

Make grants to establish state and local reentry courts to monitor offenders and provide them with access to comprehensive reentry services and programs;
Carry out a grant program to evaluate methods to improve academic and vocational education and educational services for offenders in prisons, jails, and juvenile facilities;
Make grants to states, local governments, territories, and Indian tribes to provide technology career training to prisoners;
Make grants to nonprofit organizations for providing mentoring and other transitional services for reintegrating offenders into the community;
Implement a program to educate employers about incentives for the hiring of former federal, state, or local prisoners, including the federal bonding program and tax credits.

The bill also has an extensive substance abuse component. A summary of the Second Chance Act can be found here.

Updated on 11/19/07: According to chicagopublicradio.org, the bill is being reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee but is not scheduled for a vote.

Updated on 12/14/07: An article about the Second Chance Act from the Austin Weekly News can be read here.

NY Times publishes editorial in support of the Second Chance Act

Scott — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 14:03:00 GMT

This article has already made the rounds on various blogs and listservs. However, for those that haven't seen it, please take a moment to read the NY Times editorial supporting the Second Chance Act.

Information about the upcoming Defendant/Offender Workforce Development (DOWD) Conference

Scott — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 12:55:00 GMT

The 2008 Defendant/Offender Workforce Development (DOWD) Conference will take place April 13 - 16 in Cleveland, OH. The National Career Development Association (NCDA) will partner with the US Probation Office - Northern District of Ohio, the National Institute of Corrections, Federal Bureau of Prisons, US Probation Office of Eastern District of Missouri, Offices of Probation and Pre-Trial Services; and the Administrative Office of the US Courts, to host the conference.

Click here for the 2008 DOWD Conference program.

Please visit NCDA's DOWD Conference Webpage for hotel and registration information.

CONFERENCE AT A GLANCE

Sunday, April 13, 2008:
3:00 - 6:00 pm Registration Open & Exhibitor Set Up
4:00 - 6:00 pm OWDS Master Trainers/Instructors Meeting
5:00 - 6:00 pm First timers Session
7:00 - 8:30 pm OWDS Reunion Reception

Monday, April 14, 2008:
8:00 am - 5:00 pm Registration Open & Exhibits Open
9:00 - 11:30 am NIC Sponsored Pre-Conference Workshops (no cost)
12:00 - 2:00 pm Opening Luncheon/Keynote
2:30 - 4:00 pm Presentations Series A
4:20 - 5:50 pm Presentations Series B
6:30 - 8:00 pm Opening Reception

Tuesday, April 15, 2008:
7:30 - 8:30 am Continental Breakfast
7:30 - 5:00 pm Registration Open & Exhibits Open
8:30 - 10:00 am Second Plenary/Keynote
10:30 - 12:00 pm Presentations Series C
12:30 - 2:00 pm Awards Luncheon
2:30 - 4:00 pm Presentations Series D
2:30 - 4:00 pm Tours of Federal Facility
4:00 - 6:00 pm Exhibits Tear Down
6:00 pm Group Night Out (additional cost required)

Wednesday, April 16, 2008:
8:00 - 9:00 am Continental Breakfast
8:00 am - 2:00 pm Registration Open
9:00 - 10:30 am Closing Plenary/Keynote
10:30 am - 12:30 pm Regional Roundtables
1:00 - 5:00 pm Inmate Skills Development System Training for BOP Coordinators

In the news: America's "most imaginative" reentry program; a second chance in Philadelphia; fighting crime with reentry in New Jersey

Scott — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 14:37:00 GMT

The dailypress.com claims that Kansas has the "most imaginative prisoner reentry program." Read about it here.

Pennsylvania Senator Shirley Kitchen (D) wrote an opinion piece in the Philadelphia Daily News. Senator Kitchen advocates for a "second chance law" that would place a limit on how long a criminal conviction would stay on someone's record. Read the full opinion here.

Finally, this article outlines the Governor of New Jersey's reentry strategy.

Second Chance Act update

Scott — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 12:57:00 GMT

According to the Modesto Bee, "The Second Chance Act passed the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in August with praise from both sides of the political aisle." However, there is no word on when a vote on the bill will occur.

According to the Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate, The Second Chance Act "would authorize the appropriation of $181 million for each of fiscal years 2008 and 2009 for Department of Justice (DOJ) grant programs to improve the treatment of inmates and to help offenders reenter communities after they have served their prison sentences. H.R. 1593 also would authorize the appropriation of $10 million a year for 2008 and 2009 for Bureau of Prisons (BOP) activities to prepare prisoners for successful reentry into the community."

Currently, it is proposed that between $50 million and $65 million will be allocated for Department of Justice grants. Read the HIRE Network's summary of the bill for more specific information on the grants.