$50.6M in Training Grants Available for Formerly Incarcerated Workers

The U.S. Department of Labor announced an award of US$50,643,113 in Pathway Home grants to 18 organizations in 14 states to provide training and employment services to formerly incarcerated adults re-entering the workforce following incarceration in a local jail or state correctional facility. 

“Leaders across all industries recognize that providing incarcerated people with quality job training creates opportunities for them to reunite with their families, enter the workforce and attain stable, quality employment upon release,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh. 

Administered by the department’s Employment and Training Administration, these grants will allow organizations to train and employ incarcerated individuals within 20 to 270 days from the time they enroll in the project. This initiative will help improve coordination between key partners in the reentry process, including workforce development agencies, community and state corrections agencies, jails, local health and human service providers, employers, and unions. 

For the cleaning industry, hiring former inmates and training them to take on custodial positions offers hope and purpose to these individuals, and provides a hardworking demographic at a time of labor shortages.