Partners for Reentry Opportunities in Workforce Development

On September 27, 2023, the NYS Department of Labor (NYSDOL) was awarded a Partners for Reentry Opportunities in Workforce Development (PROWD) Grant through a cooperative agreement opportunity between the United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration, and the US Department of Justice Bureau of Prisons (BOP). The NYS PROWD Program officially began on September 30, 2023.  The purpose of the Grant is to align job training and skill development services to incarcerated individuals in the care and custody of BOP Federal Corrections Institutions.  There are three sequential stages in this initiative:  Stage 1 – services to individuals in BOP Federal Corrections Institution custody Stage 2 – services to individuals under BOP supervision while in Residential Reentry Centers Stage 3 – services to individuals that have been released into the community, which will be provided by the American Job Centers (AJC), a state workforce system. Under the NYS PROWD Program, NYSDOL is partnering with three Federal Corrections Institutes (FCI): FCI Otisville, FCI Otisville Camp, and FCI Ray Brook to serve incarcerated individuals between nine to twelve months prior to their release. The NYS PROWD Program will support the return of these individuals to their communities and will support workforce and local labor market needs in the areas to which they will return.  The project seeks to improve both the employment outcomes of returning citizens, and public safety of all community members by serving participants being released from BOP facilities in NYS. The linchpin of the NYS PROWD Program is the Roots of Success (ROS) model, developed by ROS.  Vendor will deliver the ROS training model to participants in Stages 1 and 2.  ROS is a literacy and job readiness curriculum developed by Dr. Raquel Pinderhughes of San Francisco State University.  The program has been implemented in 40 US states, as well as Puerto Rico, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.  ROS is an environmental literacy Registered Apprenticeship and Pre-Apprenticeship program which prepares participants to enter the workforce upon release.  Presented within the context of developing skills for the green job economy, ROS elevates the academic and social skills necessary to be considered work ready by prospective employers.  NYSDOL has selected ROS for the following reasons:  Registered Apprenticeship has been said to be the gold standard of vocational training programs because it combines classroom instruction with paid employment during training that results in a portable, nationally recognized credential. Given the Department’s position as NYS’s Registered Apprenticeship oversight agency it was only natural to consider ROS’s Registered Apprenticeship and Pre-Apprenticeship program as primary elements in the NYS PROWD Program.  The ROS model is the first and only of its kind and brings with it over 15 years of evidenced based practices and outcomes. Since 2009, over 26,000 youth and adults have completed the program. ROS is one of only four Environmental Literacy Instructor Registered Apprenticeship Programs in the country, and it is the only Registered Apprenticeship Program of its type that is designed to be implemented and delivered within prison systems.  Reduction in recidivism is one of the required performance measures under the NYS PROWD award. And ROS completers have a recidivism rate as low as 15%.  The emphasis on the clean energy economy in ROS’s Environmental Literacy pre-apprenticeship certificate aligns with NYSDOL’s broader workforce initiatives, exemplified by the creation of the Office of Just Energy Transition, ensuring a continuity of service and career preparation post-release.  ROS’s unique, short-term, pre-release, apprenticeship/pre-apprenticeship model prepares incarcerated individuals for numerous in-demand occupations in priority sectors that allows participants to stay within their current facility to focus on their rehabilitation.  The ROS model, paired with the pre-release case management efforts of the American Job Centers system, will ensure the success of the NYS PROWD Program. Reason for advertising exemption: Sole Source Award recipient: Roots of Success Any questions or comments regarding this notice of sole-source, single-source, or procurement otherwise exempt from advertising in the NYS Contract Reporter should be directed to the contact person listed for the contracting agency or public authority. Ad end date:05/07/2024 Contract term: 09/30/2023 - 09/30/2027 County(ies): All NYS counties