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Peterman Appointment Bodes Well for Florida Youth Training
In a move that is expected to bolster Florida’s efforts to put adjudicated youths on the path to finding good-paying jobs and becoming productive citizens, on Feb. 8 Florida Gov. Charlie Crist appointed Frank Peterman as the new secretary for the state’s Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). Peterman spent seven years in the state legislature, where he served on the House Juvenile Justice Committee.
Working with the DJJ, Home Builders Institute (HBI), the workforce development arm of NAHB, currently operates eight of its congressionally recognized Project CRAFT (Community, Restitution, Apprenticeship-Focused Training) programs in Florida. This partnership has enabled HBI to steadily expand its trades training efforts, helping thousands of court-involved youths gain the life and trades skills they need to pursue careers in the industry and stay out of the state’s detention centers.
“While Frank was in the House, he consistently proved how much he values Florida’s upcoming generation, and we are confident he will do a good job in his new position,” said 2007 HBI Chairman Bill Paul.
In his new office, Peterman has already made an impromptu visit to Project CRAFT’s St. Petersburg site, where he talked with DJJ probation and HBI staff members about the program’s effectiveness and the results it is yielding.
HBI Project Coordinator William Neal was happy to tell Peterman that the program in St. Petersburg last year placed 100% of those completing it into residential construction jobs. In the state overall, Project CRAFT has scored an impressive 85% job placement rate.
“What’s most important is that we know Peterman cares about the young people in Florida and is aware of the hardships many of those who have fallen through the cracks continuously face. He will continue to make rehabilitating these youths a top priority in the department,” said Paul.
Operating training programs at nine sites in Connecticut and Florida, Project CRAFT has been recognized by members of the U.S. Congress as a model intervention for adjudicated youths.
For more information on Project CRAFT, e-mail Dennis Torbett at HBI, or call him at 800-795-7955 x8908.
Home Builders Institute Offers New Program to Teach Hispanic Adults English
 Sed de Saber™-Construction Edition is an easy-to-use, take-home learning tool created exclusively for the construction industry by the Home Builders Institute to improve communication, quality and safety on the job site.
The product, now available at www.seddesaberconstruction.com, uses proven LeapFrog technology to allow workers to listen, record and play back their pronunciation of more than 500 vocabulary words and 340 phrases. Participants who practice 30 minutes each day will complete the program in just four months. Learning at home, on their own time, also eliminates scheduling conflicts.
 Sed de Saber™-Construction Edition was developed by a team of subject matter experts assembled through HBI — including superintendents, craft skills experts, remodelers and builders — to ensure that the information is relevant to today’s home building workforce. To address worker safety issues related to the language barrier, HBI created a seventh book based entirely on the NAHB-OSHA Job Site Safety Handbook.
NAHB members can purchase the learning system, all seven books and a skills assessment to chart employee progress for $395 per kit. The non-member price is $495. Order today and empower your workers to learn English at www.seddesaberconstruction.com.
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