The Technology Careers Training Initiative: A Second Chance for Offenders in Virginia

The Second Chance Act of 2007 (Pub. L. 110-199) provides a comprehensive response to the increasing number of incarcerated adults and juveniles who are released from prison, jail, and juvenile residential facilities and returning to communities. The Second Chance Act will help ensure that the transition individuals make from prison, jail, or juvenile residential facilities to the community is successful and promotes public safety. Section 115 of the Second Chance Act authorizes federal awards to states, units of local government, territories, and federally recognized Indian tribes to provide technology career training to persons confined in state prisons, local jails, and juvenile residential facilities.

The goal of the Second Chance Act Technology Careers Training Demonstration Projects for Incarcerated Adults and Juveniles is to increase the post-release employability of offenders in related technology-based jobs and career fields. The objective of the program is to support the education, training, mentoring, support services, and job placement for incarcerated/detained adults and juveniles in a technology field.

The grant recipient will utilize the Second Chance Act funds for a technology training demonstration program that will provide postsecondary academic education for technology careers to incarcerated offenders and identify and coordinate pre-and post-release services and activities to enhance the likelihood of successful transitions into the community. Both before and after release, students will receive information and services to eliminate common obstacles to transition. The services will include, but will not be limited to, employability training, job linkages, housing arrangements, and assistance with setting up payment plans for restitution, other debts, and payment of court fees. Students will work one-on-one with the Goodwill in their home community, and a job development case manager will follow them post-placement to provide coaching and ensure job retention. The ex-offenders who complete the program will be monitored for employment, re-convictions, and parole violations.

This grant was originally awarded to the Virginia Department of Correctional Education. However, the Virginia Department of Correctional Education was eliminated as of July 1, 2012 through Virginia HB 1291. Therefore, funds were deobligated from the Virginia Department of Correctional Education and reobligated to the Virginia Department of Corrections, which is the agency now responsible for educational programs in adult correctional facilities.

CA/NCF