MAYVILLE – The Chautauqua County Jail, in partnership with the Chautauqua County Office of Probation, recently graduated the first “Ready, Set, Work” participants. The graduation took place last Wednesday night in the county jail. .
Ready, Set, Work (RSW) is a 20-hour intensive program created out of the National Institute of Correction’s Offender Workforce Development trainings by Offender Workforce Development Specialists. It is intended to provide offenders with tools and information to achieve not only employment, but also the start to a career.
According to the National Institute of Corrections (NIC), the number one way to reduce an individual’s chance of recidivism is employment. Reducing recidivism through increasing employment not only reduces county costs accrued through incarceration, but it also increases public safety, and adds back to the local tax base.
This year the Chautauqua County Office of Probation was awarded the 200 percent of Poverty Alternatives to Incarceration grant through the Division of Criminal Justice Services. The project is directed by Senior Probation Officer Philip Evans and Employment and Reentry Facilitator CodyAnne Weise.
For more information on the Ready, Set, Work program call (716) 224-0539.
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