Ala. sheriff announces job training for jail inmates
By: Carol Robinson, Alabama Media Group
JEFFERSON COUNTY, Ala. – Jefferson County Sheriff Mark Pettway on Monday announced a program aimed at making Jefferson County Jail inmates employable once they are released.
The Renewed for Reentry Program is expected to be launched in September, and partners with Lawson State Community College, the Dannon Project and the Steel Workers Trust, as well as multiple employers across central Alabama, to better equip offenders for entry back into the free world.
“This is one of the issues I campaigned on, that we make sure we address the revolving door. We’re looking to lower the recidivism rate right here in Jefferson County,’’ Pettway said. “We want to make sure those inmates who come into our facility have an opportunity to get an education and vocational skills. When they leave our facility, they have an opportunity to be employed. They’re not going back to the corner. They’re not going back to an area where they can harass you. They will be employed so they can take care of themselves, their families and they can be a productive citizen in society.”
