The Home Builders Institute isn’t satisfied with just the 400 New Orleanians it has trained to find jobs in the construction industry and now wants to create a similar career training program for those recently released from prison, reports the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Louisiana has the highest incarceration rate in the nation, 48 percent above the national average, said Roger Grissom, New Orleans program development manager of the Home Builders Institute. One out of every 55 Louisiana residents is behind bars, says the Pew Center for the States.
“Offender re-entry” programs advocate options such as education, career training and mentoring for those recently released from prison to prevent them from relapsing into crime. Top officials from two national offender re-entry programs endorsed the efficacy of these kind of programs at a meeting yesterday. “We don’t want to just depend on a revolving door,” said Jane Browning of the International Community Corrections Association. “We want people to invest their money in what works.”