Little Rock program awarded $4 million to train 400 people exiting prison

Mayor Scott announced at a Little Rock Workforce Center event that the Little Rock Workforce Development Board has received a $4,000,000 federal grant to expand the Rock City reentry program and serve 400 people exiting correctional facilities. The funds will support job training, subsidized work experience and supportive services aimed at connecting participants to employment in construction, transportation, hospitality and advanced manufacturing.

The announcement matters because Little Rock city and workforce officials say expanding reentry services aims to reduce barriers to employment that can lead to technical parole violations and recidivism. "We have now received a $4,000,000 grant for our Rock City, reentry program to service another 400 individuals," Mayor Scott said at the event.

W. J. Monagle, who spoke after the mayor, said the grant will be used over the next three and a half years to finance staff and participant supports. "The Little Rock Workforce Development Board is the recipient of a $4,000,000 federal grant to serve 400 persons," Monagle said. He described planned uses: funding seven full-time positions dedicated to the grant outcomes plus additional administrative and supervisory salary support; subsidized wages and taxes for about 200 participants (an item Monagle said will draw roughly $600,000 of the grant); occupational training for about 260 participants (about $700,000); and nearly $500,000 for partner-delivered wraparound services.

Eddie Davis, chair of the Little Rock Workforce Development Board, said the board will work with more than 50 Central Arkansas partners on employment, training, housing, legal services and health supports. "This $4,000,000 grant will make a difference in the lives of those individuals," Davis said, adding that the board intends to target the four sectors shown in the event materials: construction, transportation, hospitality and advanced manufacturing.

Denaro Cook, an employee of the City of Little Rock who previously participated in both the pre-release and post-release programs, gave a personal account of reentry into the workforce. "There is no change without a chance," Cook said, describing how city employment helped him transition after incarceration.

Officials named partners and staff who will take part in implementation: the Little Rock Workforce Investment Board and its Rock City pre-release program; the city's post-release work led by community programs staff including Dwight Pridgen and Shanika; UA Plasti Tech College and other training partners; Amanda Jones in grants management; and a representative for U.S. Rep. French Hill, Hunter Saddler. Monagle said local partners will provide the program's wraparound services and that the work builds on roughly nine years of Rock City reentry work.

Transcript remarks indicate the grant will fund work experience placements, occupational training and case-management-style supports; officials said the award is designed to increase participants' employment prospects and address resource gaps that correlate with parole violations. The announcement was presented as an awarded federal grant; the transcript does not record a local vote or formal city council action tied to the grant.

Officials did not specify all implementation dates, employer commitments or the identities of the seven positions to be hired; Monagle gave the three-and-a-half-year timeframe and the participant and funding breakdowns above. The announcement did not include a detailed budget document in the transcript; officials said grants management staff would oversee administration.