Skills Training Returns to Milwaukee Correctional Facility

Milwaukee County Community Reintegration Center. Photo by Graham Kilmer.

Occupational training is returning to the county’s corrections facility.

With funding from the state, the Community Reintegration Center (CRC), formerly known as the House of Correction, developed a welding classroom and will begin providing training that can lead to certification, and potentially employment upon release.

It’s the first time since 2008 that the institution will offer occupational skills training, according to County Executive David Crowley‘s office. The county is partnering with Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) and the Milwaukee Community Justice Council on the program.

“We must work to ensure that people who enter the Community Reintegration Center leave in a better position than when they first arrived,” Crowley said in a statement. “Allowing CRC residents to access job training and career pathway resources in the trades can help do just that.”

Employ Milwaukee will also assist residents with 20 to 180 days left before their release to access employment. The workforce development agency will provide a connection to the public workforce system and the American Job Center. It will also offer digital literacy and job readiness training.

“Preemployment, cognitive behavioral therapy, and connections to post-employment resources using a trauma informed care approach have been proven to reduce repeat offenses,” said Chytania Brown, president and CEO of Employ Milwaukee. “Our partnership with Milwaukee County CRC and MATC supports resident success by connecting them to a career pathway into good jobs, while also meeting our local employers’ demand for skilled talent.”

Education and training for incarcerated individuals has proven to reduce recidivism and leads to gainful employment post-release, MATC President Vicki J. Martin said. “This is an important opportunity to transform the lives of individual students, provide skilled workers for a high-demand field like welding, and lift up the entire community we share and serve.”

“Collaborative partnerships like this between Milwaukee County, Employ Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Community Justice Council, and MATC will help folks learn invaluable skills in the welding industry that make them competitive in the marketplace, set them up for a second chance upon re-entry, and decrease the likelihood they reenter the justice system,” Crowley said.

CRC Superintendent Chantell Jewell has been attempting to realign the correctional facility toward rehabilitation, as opposed to simply punishment. This process began with the name change, Jewell noted, “to better reflect our strategy of helping residents move beyond challenges to become socially and economically successful post-release.”