The bipartisan Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), signed by President Obama on July 22, 2014, created a new vision for how America prepares an educated and skilled workforce that expands opportunities for workers and employers.
The 21st-century public workforce development system created through WIOA builds closer ties between business leaders, state and local Workforce Development Boards, labor unions, community colleges, non-profit organizations, youth-serving organizations, and state and local officials to deliver a more job-driven approach to training and skills…
This brief from the National Skills Coalition proposes a new $500 million Career Pathways Support Fund that would allow community and technical colleges to provide critical academic, counseling, and support services that help low-income and other nontraditional students succeed in job-driven education programs. The report highlights promising practices in career development from three states that are tackling these issues head-on, including the Career Pathways Initiative in Arkansas, the Pathways for Academic Career and Employment (PACE) program in Iowa, and the Basic Skills Plus program…
A biweekly newsletter from Open Campus about the future of postsecondary education in prisons. This edition features coverage from the National Conference for Higher Education in Prisons held in Atlanta in November 2023. We also take a trip to a spa in Thailand that trains incarcerated women, and we share more results from our reader survey on technology. Finally, Kunlyna Tauch in California writes about how access to a laptop after 17 years inside changed everything.
Open Campus, a nonprofit newsroom focused on higher education, produces College Inside, a newsletter focused on the future of postsecondary education in prison. We publish a biweekly email and a monthly print PDF edition for inside distribution. You can get the email version in your inbox here (check your spam for a confirmation email if you don't see it right away), and you can sign up incarcerated friends…
This is a BJA solicitation award announcement for Academic and Workforce Development Programs at the Montana Women's Prison, Billings, Montana. Montana State University Billings (MSUB) will expand both academic and short-term vocational workforce training programs for women incarcerated at the Montana Women's Prison (MWP) and upon their transfer to the pre-release correctional facility (Passages) located in Billings. MSUB programs are intended to provide a pathway to self-sufficiency for women offenders and thereby decrease the likelihood they will return to prison and/or commit new crimes…
This is a transcript from the DOJ OJP's Justice Matters podcast from Second Chance Month, April 2022. The BJA Director of Criminal Justice Innovation, Development, and Engagement meets with Chris Poulos—lawyer, professor, former White House intern, Director of Person-Centered Services for the Washington State DOC, and formerly incarcerated person/person with lived experience. The two discuss Chris's position within the WA DOC, challenges he's come across in Washington reentry and challenges in reentry in general, successes in Washington reentry and how to measure progress, and how his…
This report illustrates various strategies for building relationships between community colleges and prisons.
This webinar spotlights Manufacturing Extension Partnerships (MEP) Centers. These centers, which currently operate in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, connect individuals reentering their community with employment in manufacturing.
This report from the Vera Institute of Justice summarizes five case studies of state departments of corrections and their partners that have created robust job training programs. These programs provide incarcerated people with opportunities to earn industry-relevant credentials and prepare for in-demand careers after release.
Blog post describing the reality of prisons being used as cages or schools.
