OpportunityTitle: Training to Work - Adult Reentry
AdditionalInformationOnEligibility: Any non-profit organizations with 501(c)(3) status may apply for these grants to provide services to eligible participants (as defined in Section III.C.3.) in areas with high-poverty and high-crime rates.  For the purpose of this SGA, high-poverty rates are defined as communities with poverty rates of at least 30 percent (applicants must use American Community Survey data to show the average poverty rate of the various Census Tracts included in their target community. For more information, see Section IV.B.3. and VIII.E.); and high-crime rates are those communities where the felony crime rate is higher than the felony crime rate of the overall city (applicants should prove their case by using the felony crime rate of the closest police precinct that overlaps the target community to compare to the city felony crime rate).    Recipients of these grants must be located in or have existing staff presence, such as satellite offices or shared office space, in the high-poverty, high-crime area to be served.  This grant focuses on high-poverty, high-crime areas that are heavily impacted by a large proportion of ex-offenders returning each year and that experience high rates of recidivism.  A single application may be submitted to serve multiple sites.  However, applicants must demonstrate that they have an already existing organizational presence in each of the identified geographic areas to be served.
Description: The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) has invested in five generations of Adult Reintegration of Ex-Offenders (RExO) programs, which historically have been employment-centered with a &#147;Work First&#148; component. However, lessons learned from these demonstration projects and input from our stakeholders (employers and state and local government agencies participating in the Secretary of Labor&#146;s Employment Reentry Summit held in July 2012) indicate that ex-offenders have a better chance of attaining employment and achieving a higher degree of career growth if they acquire industry-recognized credentials. Additionally, we have learned that reentry is more successful when supportive services are begun prior to release. Work release programs allow an offender to work at paid employment or participate in a training program in the community on a voluntary basis while continuing as an inmate of the institution or facility to which he/she is committed. The purpose of these grants is to foster pre-release services and the attainment of industry-recognized credentials to improve the long-term workforce outcomes for previously incarcerated individuals. Based on lessons learned, the Training to Work-Adult Reentry program will provide training and employment services for inmates age 18 and older enrolled in state and/or local work-release programs. This includes persons enrolled in work release programs supervised by local jails. Some work release programs allow considerable freedom; allowing offenders who follow a work week schedule to attend work and live at their homes on those days, and serve their sentences two days at a time on weekends. Additionally, depending on the terms of the program, the offender may serve his or her sentence in a halfway house or home confinement while not working. Other work release programs can be offered to offenders who are nearing the end of their terms and looking for reintegration into community life, with a possible offer of full-time employment once the offender is released. The possibility of obtaining an industry-recognized credential, particularly if it can be attained prior to release, may add value to a work release program. The focus of this grant program is to help participants attain industry-recognized credentials for jobs in demand industries in their area prior to release or within 90 days after release from a state or local work release program.
GrantorContactEmailDescription: Email Grant Specialist
GrantorContactText: Brinda Ruggles &lt;br/&gt;Grants Management Specialist &lt;br/&gt;Phone 202-693-3437
CloseDateExplanation: The closing date for receipt of applications under this announcement is May 2, 2013.  Applications must be received no later than 4:00:00 p.m. Eastern Time.