Learn To Earn Program

The “Learn To Earn” program’s mission is to provide carefully screened, non-violent ex-offenders from the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department with the skills training and employment experience necessary to secure living wage jobs in the building trades at the end of their sentence.

Learn to Earn is a “classroom without walls” that matches one to three apprentices with a licensed construction supervisor on training projects throughout areas in Western Massachusetts. Learn to Earn graduates possess the skills and employment experience necessary to succeed in the building trades industry.

This is a community-based program, targeted to low and moderate income individuals emerging from incarceration, many of whom have families. It is an initiative formed by members of the faith and labor community in Springfield and Hampden County, and act as a catalyst for economic growth in the distressed neighborhoods to which our graduates return after their release because we place them into family-supporting jobs.

Why construction?

The construction industry provides the opportunity for people with trade-specific skills and employment experience to earn family-sustaining wages. Many positions in the construction industry do not require traditional classroom-based knowledge that is challenging for some to get. The construction industry does not have many of the restrictions common to the health care and customer service sectors that are readily available but that prohibit some people from employment.

Research has shown a clear link between crime and work….The ability to find a stable and adequate source of income upon release from prison is an important factor in an individual’s transition from prison back to the community. Further, former prisoners’ employment prospects have direct and important implications for their abilities to contribute to the viability and stability of their families and communities.*

* “Outside the Walls: A National Snapshot of Community-Based Prisoner Reentry Programs” is a collaborative effort of several organizations including the Urban Institute, Annie E. Casey Foundation, and others. The briefing paper cited here is available at http://www.reentrymediaoutreach.org/pdfs/employment_bp.pdf.