Atlanta Regional Workforce Area

Gwinnett County Corrections Project

The Atlanta Regional Workforce Board's (ARWB’s) correctional project offers
occupational skills training in welding, HVAC, and Commercial Apartment Maintenance
at the Gwinnett County Correctional Institution. Career advisor staff are jointly-funded
by Workforce Investment Act (WIA) funds from ARWB, and by Gwinnett County. The
onsite occupational skills training is provided by the Center for Industry and Technology
(CIT) through ARWB funds. Three or four classes/year, for eight to ten participants per
class are offered for five days per week over a thirteen-week period. Classes include 250
or 310 hours of occupational skills instruction, and 100 hours or more in motivation/
retention, job search, and personal development. Classes are held in the late afternoon
and evening, after inmates return from regular county work assignments, and for one full
day each week. CIT instruction leads to nationally accepted, industry-wide credentials.

The project takes a holistic approach to preparing offenders for re-entry into society.
Staff work to assess and identify all barriers for each participant, and generate a plan for
overcoming each barrier. Since the majority (88%) of the inmates have addiction to
substance and alcohol, participation in Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous
is an important first step for many. GED preparation and basic skills improvement is
another key component of the program, as many inmates (61%) are high school dropouts

At each graduation, former inmate "graduates" who are now successful employees, and
their employee supervisors, provide "testimony" to those who have just completed the
program. Many prospective employers actually meet these completers and their families
at graduation, assess their support systems on the spot, and recruit them to work for their
firms. Job development, and a post-incarceration support system development, is
coordinated with the TOPPSTEP program of the Georgia Department of Labor and the
Georgia Department of Corrections.

Over the approximate ten-year lifetime of this project, 233 offenders have been served,
with an 86.7% placement rate. Over 95% of former participants were employed three
months after termination earning an average of $449 per week. Over the lifetime of this
project, only a small percentage of participants returned to prison.

The project's long term follow-up and contact with participants is a key reason the
program is successful. Once released from prison, graduates are required to stay in touch
with the program career advisor every two weeks for a year. This award-winning
program is truly one of a kind in Georgia.

For additional information, please contact:

Atlanta Regional Workforce Area
(404) 463-3326

Revised August 26, 2004