R.I. receives federal funding for prison transition program

Rhode Island is receiving a $500,000 federal grant to help people being released from prison find jobs and reintegrate into the community. The grant, which comes from the U.S. Department of Labor, will be used by the Providence/Cranston Workforce Development Board to create the RHODES to Employment Program. The program will provide work readiness, career counseling, and other services to people who are soon to be released from the Adult Correctional Institution in Cranston. “The idea is to provide services to offenders before they transition out of prison to help break the cycle of poverty, crime, and reincarceration, because we know how costly recidivism is,” said Mike Healey, a Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training spokesman. Healey referred to the grant as “a smart bet” by the Obama administration. By easing the transition out of prison through this federal funding, the program aims to reduce reincarceration rates. “There’s an old saying that a job is the best social policy. And the Department of Labor and Training thinks that the best way to break the cycle of recidivism is to help (people who have served time in prison) find jobs upon release,” Healey said. “Affordable housing, access to good healthcare and employment, all are cornerstones for a successful re-entry program.” The department has already put a new jobs counselor into the ACI through the grant, but there is no official start date for the RHODES to Employment program yet. On top of the services provided directly to people in the ACI, the program will also expand tax incentives to Rhode Island employers who hire people who have been formerly incarcerated. 120 people from the ACI will be chosen to participate in this program, and will have access to its services after they leave the prison.