Alabama’s RESTART Initiative is connecting justice-involved individuals with workforce training and employment opportunities in the state’s growing Gulf Coast industries.
The $3,999,999 federal grant will support training for 550 adults age 25 and older who were recently released from Alabama correctional facilities and remain under probation, parole or mandatory-release supervision. The 42-month program focuses on industries including shipbuilding, maritime trades and advanced manufacturing.
J.F. Ingram State Technical College received $797,444 from the grant to provide technical training, industry-recognized credentials and employment preparation. The Perry County PREP Center and Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles Day Reporting Centers in Mobile and Baldwin counties will offer training.
Rebecca Bensema, assistant director for reentry at the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles, said the initiative will provide participants with support services designed to help them complete the program and enter the workforce.
“While they’re receiving that training, they will be receiving support services, such as residential and medical. There is substance use treatment that’s available. There’s mental health treatment that’s available on site to give them the best opportunity possible to be able to be successful in completing that program and get them out to the shipyard, to get them to work,” Bensema said.
Participants can receive training in areas such as welding, pipefitting, shipfitting, marine electrical work, machining, industrial maintenance and maritime safety.
Workforce Alabama officials said the initiative is intended to help people overcome barriers to employment, including previous felony convictions or other involvement with the criminal justice system. Officials described the initiative as a way to connect people with training while also creating a direct path into available jobs.
Ingram State President David Walters said the program is important as Alabama’s Gulf Coast continues to see investment in shipbuilding, maritime industries and advanced manufacturing. More than $14 billion in new and expanding capital investment along the Gulf Coast is increasing demand for skilled workers.
The initiative also comes as Alabama and the nation work to expand shipbuilding and other maritime capabilities. Walters, at the time of the announcement, said the program will give justice-involved individuals an opportunity to pursue well-paying jobs in those industries.
“This initiative addresses two important needs facing our state,” Walters said. “Alabama employers need trained, dependable workers, and justice-involved individuals need opportunities to develop marketable skills and build stable careers. Ingram State is proud to provide the education and technical training that will help connect those needs.”
The RESTART Initiative is a partnership between the Alabama Department of Workforce, Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles, Ingram State Technical College, the Southwest Alabama Partnership for Training and Employment and the Council of State Governments Justice Center.
The program will track participants’ credentials, employment, earnings, job retention, apprenticeship enrollment and recidivism as officials evaluate its results.
