Delaware News

Governor’s Weekly Message Transcript: Ensuring All Delawareans Have Access to Job Training, Employment Opportunities

Former Governor Jack Markell (2009-2017) | News | Date Posted: Friday, June 12, 2015



With ninety-seven percent of the people in our prisons eventually being released, we know that one of the best ways to build a safer state is to improve the chance that those who were involved with our criminal justice system can get a job when they return to their communities. That’s why we’ve reduced barriers to rehabilitation and employment. Because of laws we passed with bipartisan support, nearly 800 non-violent offenders had their driver’s licenses returned after being released; and we made it easier for those with a record to apply for state jobs so the more than two thousand ex-offenders who apply have a better shot at employment.

To further support those efforts, the Department of Correction, along with Health and Social Services, Housing, Labor, and the Department of Education, implemented Delaware’s innovative I-ADAPT program, which has assisted several hundred offenders as they near release by connecting them with housing, healthcare and job training programs. And Baylor Women’s Correctional Institution partnered with award-winning restaurant group SODEL Concepts, founded by the late Matt Haley, to teach inmates valuable skills in the culinary arts field.

Recently, local business and civic leaders were invited to break bread behind bars with program participants in an effort to facilitate employment opportunities after their release from incarceration. Next week another class graduates from Project New Start with new technology skills, training to search for jobs as well as skills for interviewing. By removing barriers to rehabilitation and employment, ex-offenders are more likely to realize success and less likely to re-offend, allowing them to become productive, taxpaying citizens in our communities. And that, will keep Delaware moving forward.

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Keep up to date by receiving a daily digest email, around noon, of current news release posts from state agencies on news.delaware.gov.

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Governor’s Weekly Message Transcript: Ensuring All Delawareans Have Access to Job Training, Employment Opportunities

Former Governor Jack Markell (2009-2017) | News | Date Posted: Friday, June 12, 2015



With ninety-seven percent of the people in our prisons eventually being released, we know that one of the best ways to build a safer state is to improve the chance that those who were involved with our criminal justice system can get a job when they return to their communities. That’s why we’ve reduced barriers to rehabilitation and employment. Because of laws we passed with bipartisan support, nearly 800 non-violent offenders had their driver’s licenses returned after being released; and we made it easier for those with a record to apply for state jobs so the more than two thousand ex-offenders who apply have a better shot at employment.

To further support those efforts, the Department of Correction, along with Health and Social Services, Housing, Labor, and the Department of Education, implemented Delaware’s innovative I-ADAPT program, which has assisted several hundred offenders as they near release by connecting them with housing, healthcare and job training programs. And Baylor Women’s Correctional Institution partnered with award-winning restaurant group SODEL Concepts, founded by the late Matt Haley, to teach inmates valuable skills in the culinary arts field.

Recently, local business and civic leaders were invited to break bread behind bars with program participants in an effort to facilitate employment opportunities after their release from incarceration. Next week another class graduates from Project New Start with new technology skills, training to search for jobs as well as skills for interviewing. By removing barriers to rehabilitation and employment, ex-offenders are more likely to realize success and less likely to re-offend, allowing them to become productive, taxpaying citizens in our communities. And that, will keep Delaware moving forward.

image_printPrint


Graphic that represents delaware news on a mobile phone

Keep up to date by receiving a daily digest email, around noon, of current news release posts from state agencies on news.delaware.gov.

Here you can subscribe to future news updates.