DeLauro Applauds $500,000 Grant for New Haven’s Workforce Alliance

Funding Will Provide Employment Services to People Transitioning From Jail Back to the Community

WASHINGTON, DC—Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-3) released the following statement today applauding the news New Haven’s Workforce Alliance, Inc. has won a $500,000 grant to provide career services to inmates in the six months before their release and continuing during their transition back into the broader community. The services will be available at the New Haven Correctional Center.

“Studies have shown that job training programs for prisoners can reduce their chances of returning to prison, benefitting our entire community by keeping crime rates low and lessening the strain on local, state and federal resources. When more people have a job and are contributing to society, we all win. I applaud Bill Villano, and all our men and women who have dedicated their lives to helping others succeed.”

Workforce Alliance’s grant is part of $10 million awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor to 20 communities in California, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maine, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin. DeLauro is the senior Democrat on the subcommittee responsible for funding the Labor Department. The grants are funded through the “Linking to Employment Activities Pre-Release” (LEAP) program. LEAP strives to integrate correctional facilities and workforce development programs.

In addition to Workforce Alliance, the Hamden job center run by the Connecticut Department of Labor; Easter Seals; Goodwill Industries and its Community Reentry Services Program; Career Resources, Inc./STRIVE; Community Action Agency for New Haven; EMERGE CT; Family Reentry New Haven; New Haven Family Alliance; New Haven Transitions Clinic and Project MORE, Inc.! will participate in the project. The grant will provide services for 175 inmates over an 18-month period.


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