The U.S. Department of Labor announced the award of more than $56 million in grants aimed at reducing recidivism and assisting formerly incarcerated individuals in re-entering their communities. The Pathway Home 5 grant funding builds on findings from the Linking Employment Activities Pre-release pilots and implementation study, which emphasized the importance of partnerships between jails and workforce system partners for participant success.
Authorized by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, these grants provide funding for justice-involved individuals to complete training in skills valued by local employers. The awards follow the department’s February 8, 2024, funding opportunity announcement.
“The Pathway Home grants we announced today will allow justice-involved individuals to get the training they need to secure good jobs as they re-enter their communities following a term of incarceration,” said Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training José Javier Rodríguez. “The Biden-Harris administration recognizes that our communities are safer when formerly incarcerated Americans have access to good jobs. These grants enable participants to begin skills training before their release, better preparing them to start their new lives.”
Directed by the department’s Employment and Training Administration, Pathway Home grants aim to eliminate gaps between release from prison or jail and enrollment in workforce development programs. Grantees must partner with state correctional facilities or local jails to access participants before their return to their communities.
Pathway Home grantees will use their employer and union connections to inform program curricula, ensuring that the training provided aligns with available jobs in local industries.
The Department awarded Pathway Home grants to the following recipients:
- Southwest Alabama Partnership for Training and Employment, Mobile, AL: $1,499,999
- Epidaurus (operating as Amity Foundation), Tucson, AZ: $3,999,381
- The WorkPlace, Bridgeport, CT: $2,499,999
- OIC of South Florida, Ft. Lauderdale, FL: $4,000,000
- Georgia Department of Labor, Atlanta, GA: $4,000,000
- Workforce Inc. (operating as RecycleForce), Indianapolis, IN: $4,000,000
- Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Louisiana Inc., New Orleans, LA: $4,000,000
- Jobs for the Future (Boston), MA: $4,000,000
- Southern Mississippi Planning and Development District (Gulfport), MS: $2 999 000
- Family and Workforce Centers of America (St. Louis), MO: $4 000 000
- Concordance (St. Louis), MO: $4 000 000
- Fortune Society Inc., Long Island City NY): $4 000 000
- Towards Employment Inc., Cleveland OH): $3 999 011
- Opportunities Industrialization Centers of America Inc., Philadelphia PA): $4 000 00
- URI Research Foundation Kingston RI):$1454078
- Total Action Against Poverty in Roanoke Valley Roanoke VA) :$3999 999
