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Training Puts Offenders on the Path to Jobs, Congress Told
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Dennis Torbett | In an Oct. 15 hearing on Capitol Hill, Dennis Torbett, vice president of workforce training and employment for the Home Builders Institute (HBI), indicated that training programs in the construction trades can put offenders in correctional facilities on the path to successful careers in the home building industry.
The hearing by the House Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service and the District of Columbia was convened to examine the treatment of D.C. inmates at the Rivers Correctional Institution in Winton, N.C. and to gather information on best practice training models that could be adopted there and at other facilities.
In response to a question by Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) on factors that make training effective, Torbett noted that HBI’s training programs have benefited from the strong support they have received from home builders. “The involvement of the industry has proven essential to the success of our programs,” he said.
Torbett cited a multitude of job opportunities in residential construction and a continued need for skilled labor, but he noted that the availability of training programs is fairly limited, despite the success of specialized training programs such as HBI’s Project TRADE (Training, Restitution, Apprenticeship, Development, Education) for adult offenders.
“We have learned that you can give a person a job they may quit tomorrow, but if you teach them a skill, they will have it for a lifetime,” he said.
Other witnesses included Harley G. Lappin, director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons; Phil Holmes, vice president of career development at Goodwill Industries; and Dr. James Austin, president of the JFA Institute.
HBI also offers training for adjudicated youth through its Project CRAFT (Community, Restitution, Apprenticeship-Focused Training).
As the workforce development arm of NAHB, HBI has been able to directly connect graduates of its training programs for those involved in the justice system with employers and industry jobs, dramatically reducing recidivism rates.
For more information on Project TRADE or Project CRAFT, e-mail Dennis Torbett at HBI, or call him at 800-795-7955 x8908.
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