Goodwill Industries supports policies that serve ex-offenders.
As one of the nation’s largest providers of job training services, Goodwill Industries leads the way in creating employment opportunities for the approximately 650,000 ex-offenders who return to their communities each year. In 2007, 119 Goodwills helped more than 81,500 current and former prisoners.
Local Goodwill agencies help these thousands of current and former prisoners through a variety of programs, including job readiness, mentoring, housing, job placement and retention services. Watch a video about these programs.
Through programs focusing on workforce training, housing assistance, substance abuse, and health/mental health issues, local Goodwill agencies help create new opportunities for former offenders returning to the community. The ultimate goal of these programs is to prevent prisoner recidivism, an all-too-common trend that results in an ever-increasing burden on our communities and our taxpayers.
Goodwill Industries supports policy initiatives that would reduce barriers to reintegration and assist ex-offenders transitioning back into society. In particular, Goodwill Industries supports the Second Chance Act, which would provide grants to states and localities to address drug and mental health treatment, job training, and educational opportunities. The Second Chance Act would also establish a task force on federal programs and activities related to the re-entry of offenders into the community.
The Second Chance Act of 2007 was enacted April 9, 2008. However, Second Chance Act programs authorized under the law need to be funded now through the U.S. Congress' annual appropriations process.
