Project 180 has teamed up with Orlando-based online workplace safety training company American Safety Council to make OSHA training accessible and affordable to soon-to-be-released incarcerated citizens who will need employment credentials.
American Safety Council, also known as ASC, created ASC CARES to help reentry citizens cultivate and renew employable skills by providing affordable access to online OSHA training. Workplace safety training such as the 10 Hour Construction Training course provides vital information about how to work safely in the construction industry — a very appealing career path for formerly incarcerated men and women.
Access to this training offers reentry citizens practical credentials that are valuable not only in Florida but throughout the United States, and a second chance to find employment and build a future for themselves and their families.
"ASC CARES' discounted program for incarcerated citizens is one of the most progressive — and helpful — ideas I've seen in over two decades in the field," Barbara Richards said, Project 180 CEO and Founder. "Project 180's goal is that our incarcerated neighbors have job offers and know when and where to report for work prior to leaving the facilities in which they're housed. The ASC CARES program creatively and generously opens the door for that to happen."
Together with Project 180, ASC and its newly developed program have already had the opportunity to talk to more than 125 inmates about OSHA training and how it can support their efforts to find employment upon release.
With so many jails already providing an array of programs and services to improve incarcerated individuals' mental and emotional well-being — ASC CARES is hoping to incorporate online safety training as a valuable component to their educational and career development. Where possible, ASC CARES is working to provide affordable training within the jail walls so that men and women can take the courses they need before being released into mainstream society. And where that’s not feasible, ASC CARES is offering a promo code for individuals to complete discounted training post-release.
"We understand the road ahead is not an easy one for formerly incarcerated individuals looking for work," Sandra Baxter said, Director of ASC CARES. "When inmates find work upon release, everybody wins — they win, their families win, law enforcement wins, taxpayers win, the entire community wins."
