Reintegration and Job Training of Ex-offenders Project

The Edward Byrne Memorial Discretionary Grants Program (Byrne Discretionary Program) helps local communities improve the capacity of local justice systems and provides for national support efforts. This project is authorized and funded through a line item in the FY 08 Congressional Budget. Funds should be used for purposes recommended by Congress.

The Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake (GIC) will develop and implement a re-entry program entitled the Reintegration and Job Training of Ex-offenders Project. GIC will expand this small, specialized program to include state-level male and female inmates released from the prisons back to the Central Maryland and the Eastern Shore regions. They will hire additional case managers and employment services staff to help inmates with transition planning prior to their release from prison, with the emphasis on becoming and staying gainfully employed, and to connect them to public and private community-based services. GIC works to connect employers and job-seekers in Maryland's Central and Eastern Shore regions. They also operates a similar, but smaller and more specialized employment service for local-level felony and misdemeanor offenders and ex-convicts involved with the Wicomico County and Baltimore City Drug Courts, Baltimore City Mental Health Court Program, and Eastern Correctional and Poplar Hill Pre-Release Units.

NCA/NCF