House Passes Trone Provision to Provide Apprenticeship Opportunities to Justice-Impacted Individuals
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Hannah Muldavin, Hannah.Muldavin@mail.house.gov
House Passes Trone Provision to Provide Apprenticeship Opportunities to Justice-Impacted Individuals
A replay of Trone’s floor speech can be found here.
WASHINGTON — Today, Congressman David Trone (D-MD) announced that his amendment to the National Apprenticeship Act, which would help establish and strengthen workforce training programs in all federal correctional institutions, passed the House floor. The legislation now heads to the Senate.
Justice-impacted individuals face significant barriers to employment when reentering the workforce, with an unemployment rate that is five times higher than the national average. This can often be attributed to the lack of vocational skills and work experience necessary to gain employment. Workforce training programs fill that skills gap, and individuals who participate in these programs while incarcerated are 28% more likely to be employed and 33% less likely to be reincarcerated than individuals who do not participate in these programs. Despite this demonstrated success, these programs are still relatively rare.
The amendment specifically directs the Office of Apprenticeship to coordinate with the U.S. Attorney General and the Bureau of Prisons to support the establishment and expansion of pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs in all federal correctional institutions.
It also offers technical assistance for state prison systems and employers seeking to operate or improve corrections-based pre-apprenticeship or apprenticeship programs. The amendment also supports the successful transition of individuals out of our prisons and jails into apprenticeship programs upon reentry.
“Our criminal justice system should focus on rehabilitation, and workforce training programs need to be a central part of that,” said Congressman Trone. “This amendment will help make these programs a standard part of our justice system, reduce recidivism, and help formerly incarcerated folks lead productive lives and help build stronger communities.”
A fact sheet on the National Apprenticeship Act can be found here.
Congressman David Trone was elected to the House of Representatives in November 2018 to serve the 6th District of Maryland, which includes all or part of Montgomery, Frederick, Washington, Allegany, and Garrett Counties. Trone serves on the Appropriations, Veterans’ Affairs, and Joint Economic Committees in the 117th Congress and previously served on the Education and Labor and Foreign Affairs Committees. In Congress, Trone is fighting to make progress on issues that matter to Marylanders, including the opioid epidemic, criminal justice reform, and funding for medical research.
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