DOC
Reentry Initiative
Receives
$1.5 Million Boost
Expanded
‘Windows to Work’ Model receives $750,000 federal
Second Chance grant, along with additional funding support
by The Annie E. Casey Foundation
MADISON –
Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC) Secretary Rick Raemisch today
announced the DOC has been awarded a $750,000 grant by the U.S.
Department of Justice to expand its collaborative “Windows to Work”
program – already serving areas covered by the Bay Area Workforce
Development Board – to areas covered by the Milwaukee Area Workforce
Investment Board as well. Local match funding, including support by The
Annie E. Casey Foundation, will bring the total investment to $1.5
million.
“Thanks to
this grant and in partnership with the Bay Area Workforce Development
Board and the Milwaukee Area Workforce Investment Board, we will further
enhance the already strong connections that are in place to assist
inmates as they transition from prison into the community,” Secretary
Raemisch said. “The Windows to Work program is a great strategy we have
in place to promote the successful reentry of prisoners back into the
community, which means fewer new crimes, fewer new victims, and safer
Wisconsin communities.”
Funds from
the grant will enhance reentry services for inmates being released from
Oshkosh Correctional and Racine Correctional institutions (OSCI and RCI)
– both of which are among the DOC’s largest prisons – into communities
in Brown, Manitowoc, Milwaukee and Sheboygan counties. Reach-in services
focused on employment and independent living will begin for participants
six months prior to release, and will continue for a minimum of one year
following release. A primary goal of the grant is to reduce one-year
recidivism of participating offenders by 50 percent over five years.
The Annie E.
Casey Foundation, a private charitable organization based in Baltimore,
is providing $118,500 of matching funds, of which $70,000 has been
awarded to The Center for Self-Sufficiency in Milwaukee. The Center for
Self-Sufficiency will assist with planning and coordination of
inter-departmental and community stakeholders activities and
relationships in the implementation of reentry initiatives. In-kind
match is being provided by the Bay Area and Milwaukee Area workforce
boards and the Department of Corrections.
The project
will build off the existing Windows to Work program that is in place at
OSCI, coordinated by Dawn Fofana, Corrections Unit Supervisor, through
an ongoing collaboration with the Bay Area Workforce Development Board.
The project will increase service capacity from 40 to 240, including 160
who will be released to Milwaukee County. The grant will introduce
additional reentry components, such as
comprehensive pre- and post-release planning, and community
services that cover housing, job readiness skills, employment and other
areas that are critical to the success of prisoner reentry.
“I'm pleased
to see this collaborative effort expanded,” Department of Workforce
Development Secretary Roberta Gassman said. “This Windows to Work
program is in the best interests of all in providing vital services to
offenders who have completed their sentences. It assists them in
returning to the community, it meets the needs of employers, and it
helps keep neighborhoods safe.”
James M.
Golembeski, Executive Director of the Bay Area Workforce Development
Board, said, “We’ve been doing Windows to Work for over 10 years now and
it has been a very successful program. We are very excited about the
opportunity to expand the program here and especially in the Milwaukee
area.”
Don Sykes,
President and CEO of the Milwaukee Area Workforce Investment Board,
said, “I am so pleased that we have this opportunity to address a very
critical issue facing the Milwaukee area. This is a needed and essential
element to providing a successful reentry for many of our citizens
reentering our community.”
The federal
Second Chance Act Prisoner Reentry Initiative provides financial support
for projects designed to promote the safe and successful reintegration
of incarcerated individuals back into the community.
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