St. Louis is now in a position to rehabilitate hundreds of adults and juvenile offenders, thanks to major grants from the U.S. Department of Labor.
Fathers’ Support Center received a $1.4 million “Training to Work-Adult Reentry” grant, one of 16 grantees to receive the a total $20 million in such grants.
Also, the St. Louis Agency on Training and Employment (SLATE) received $818,165 under the “Face Forward” grant program aimed at helping juvenile offenders obtain employment and support services. SLATE was one of 28 organizations nationwide to receive funding under this new program.
“It’s very difficult to get an ex-con a job,” said Halbert Sullivan, president and CEO of Fathers’ SupportCenter.
However, Sullivan said, there are some industry “clusters” most likely to hire ex-cons, including construction, truck driving, automotive maintenance, welding and customer service. By partnering with RankenTechnicalCollege, the center will use the workforce training grant to establish a program that helps ex-convicts obtain industry-recognized credentials for jobs in high-demand industries.
This will help reduce the number of people who commit crimes and decrease St. Louis city’s 51 percent recidivism rate, according to the Missouri Department of Corrections.
Fathers’ SupportCenter will lead the grant working in partnership with Family and Workforce Centers of America, the State of Missouri Department of Corrections (DOC), the DOC Division of Probation and Parole, the St. Louis Community Release Center, in addition to Ranken Tech.
SLATE will offer remedial education and GED services, career planning and on-the job training. The program also aims to provide continued education, mentoring and social services.
“The vast majority of individuals who come out of prison really want to come back into our society and live a productive life,” Mayor Francis G. Slay said. “Unfortunately, they come back under very difficult circumstances.”
Fathers’ SupportCenter will provide services to 100 ex-cons per year recruited from the St. LouisCommunityReleaseCenter, working with a total of 200 individuals in the two-year grant implementation period.
Sullivan stated that ex-cons not currently residing at the half-way house are not eligible to participate in the program. However, there are other workforce readiness programs at the center that grant-ineligible men can participate in.
The majority of those incarcerated are males, and 92 percent of returning males are parents falling in line with the center’s mission to create positive outcomes for children by helping men learn how to be responsible fathers.
SLATE Executive Director Michael Holmes said the agency would use the $818,165 “Face Forward” grant to develop the “You Only Live Once” (YOLO) STL Youth Diversion Program” in cooperation with St. Louis Family Court and other partners over the next three years.
Judge Jimmie Edwards of the 22nd Judicial Circuit Court of Missouri, founder of InnovativeConceptAcademy, played a role in helping SLATE secure the grant.
The City of St. Louis will oversee the funds, but will submit a request for proposals and select three vendors to administer the program. The vendors will be mandated to work directly with Judge Edwards at InnovativeConceptAcademy.
St. Louis Family Court received more than 7,000 delinquency referrals over the last two years. Of that number, 92 percent were African-American youth between 14-17 years of age accused of petty offenses like theft and vandalism. The program aims to help juvenile offenders obtain employment and social services.
“We want these young people to find their way to a better life,” Mayor Slay said. “These programs will help make our neighborhoods safer.”
