(MADISON) – A $660,000 federal grant awarded to Word of Hope Ministries in Milwaukee will further enhance efforts in the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC) to promote community safety through successful prisoner reentry, agency Secretary Matthew Frank said.

“This grant is a credit to Word of Hope Ministries and the great work that they do, and I congratulate and look forward to working with them,” Secretary Frank said. “Through our partnership with Word of Hope Ministries and other community organizations across Wisconsin, we are working to help offenders leaving prison be successful and crime-free, which ultimately means safer communities. Our communities are far better off when offenders become law-abiding, productive members who don’t commit new crimes.”

The grant, which was announced this week, is part of $19.8 million in funding awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor to 30 faith-based and community-based organizations under the Prisoner Re-entry Initiative.

Through Word of Hope, 200 formerly incarcerated individuals in the city and county of Milwaukee will be served through a formal referral process with local and state agencies including the DOC to undertake outreach and recruitment.

Secretary Frank thanked partnering agencies who have been part of this effort, including the Milwaukee Private Industry Council; Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Division WIser Choice Project; Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership Building Industry Group and Skilled Trades in Employment Program (BIG STEP); Milwaukee Area Technical College; University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Educational Opportunity Center; and HeartLove Place.

Roberta Gassman, Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, also applauded the grant award.

“A successful transition back into the community is more likely when skills training and employment assistance are provided,” Secretary Gassman said. “Our Job Centers and W-2 agencies are instrumental in helping individuals get connected to work and these funds will mean we can augment those services, so ex-offenders have even more opportunities to get and retain family-supporting jobs."

The project will build upon Word of Hope’s existing collaboration with DOC, in which offenders are referred to the organization for services such as case management, GED, AODA, mentoring, employment services, health screens, computer training and housing.

The grant will cover comprehensive prisoner reentry services, such as job readiness training and placement, mentoring services, educational and vocational training, health care, social service counseling, substance abuse treatment and children’s academic enrichment. Word of Hope will work in partnership with the Private Industry Council to provide vouchers to participants for vocational and hard skills training services, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.