Intiatives At Women’s Prison In FDL Help Inmates With Transition To Work
22 September 2019 News
(DOC and DWD staff join employers and stakeholders at the roundtable to discuss how they can work together to help women who are releasing from prison)
MADISON –On Friday, September 13, Department of Corrections (DOC) Secretary Kevin A. Carr and Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Secretary Caleb Frostman visited Taycheedah Correctional Institution (TCI) to tour two initiatives to help women incarcerated when they return to their communities.
The newly-opened Welding Mobile Lab is giving women at TCI experience and certification in welding. The Welding Lab, created through a partnership between DWD, DOC, and Moraine Park Technical College, offers small cohorts of women a chance to get hands-on experience while working on successfully reentering their communities. Many of the women in the program have never welded before, but hope this will lead to more education and job opportunities.
“I’m going to get a job as a welder,” says program participant, Amanda Franzen, “I want this, I want it and I want to go even further with it and probably get a job and keep continuing with education and expand this.”
“We are trying to do a better job of connecting the dots so that the people in our care are more fully aware of the array of programs available to them,” said DOC Secretary Kevin A. Carr, “partnerships like these help us change lives.”
Coupled with the Mobile Welding Lab is another partnership between DOC and DWD: a Job Center within the walls of Taycheedah Correctional Institution. The second of its kind in Wisconsin, the TCI] Job Center is staffed by DWD employees who help women create resumes, complete career readiness programs, search for jobs, and coordinate interviews. Many women utilizing the Job Center are already interviewing with perspective employers.
“Wisconsin is at a unique inflection point in our economy, which is encouraging businesses to be more creative, inclusive, and aggressive in addressing workforce needs,” said DWD Secretary Caleb Frostman. “By connecting those returning to their communities with living wage employment, we increase workforce recruitment during an acute labor shortage, reduce recidivism, and allow for some of our most vulnerable citizens to contribute to their families, their communities, and their local economy. It’s a win-win.”
Governor Evers’ People’s Budget allocated funds to build four more Job Centers within DOC facilities.
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