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All Square describes restaurant-based reentry jobs program; lawmakers pressed on geographic scope
Summary
All Square, a nonprofit employment social enterprise in south Minneapolis, asked for $300,000 in one-time funding to continue job training, a law pipeline and fellowships that employ people returning from incarceration; senators asked why bill text specifies Minneapolis–St. Paul rather than a broader statewide approach.
Sen. Kari Mohammed introduced Senate File 2404 asking for a $300,000 one‑time general fund appropriation to support All Square, a Minneapolis‑based nonprofit restaurant and social enterprise that provides competitive jobs and training for people with criminal records.
Maya Johnson, All Square's chief operating officer, told the committee the organization runs a paid fellowship anchored in the restaurant and food truck, offers mental-health and professional development supports and operates a prison‑to‑law pipeline that helps people pursue paralegal and legal education. John Geffen, director of the associated law-firm program, said the nonprofit also provides no‑cost legal services for record‑clearing and trains currently incarcerated paralegal students who work on real cases.
Senator Pratt asked why the appropriation language limits operations to Minneapolis–St. Paul and correctional facilities in the surrounding area when state corrections facilities exist elsewhere; witnesses said their in-person fellowship and restaurant operations are centered in Minneapolis, but educational programming and outreach can and does extend to facilities including St. Cloud, Rush City and Moose Lake when partnerships and facility capacity allow.
Senate File 2404 was laid over for possible inclusion.
