Sept. 12, 2022 -- The Idaho Workforce Development Council has awarded the Idaho Department of Correction a $25,000 grant to equip incarcerated women with the job skills they need to succeed when they are released from prison and return to their communities.

“This grant is an investment in public safety,” said Idaho Department of Correction Director Josh Tewalt. “When people are equipped with job skills while incarcerated, they are more likely to succeed as law-abiding citizens and less likely to return to prison.”

The grant will be used to establish a vocational education program at the Pocatello Women’s Correctional Center. A current PWCC staff member will be trained and certified as a craft instructor through the National Center for Construction Education and Research.

With the certification, the craft instructor will be qualified to oversee a rigorous, competency-based, industry recognized program that will provide women at the facility with the foundational construction skills to be competitive in any entry level vocational or construction-career field.

Similar programs are already in operation at Idaho State Correctional Center, Idaho State Correctional Institution, North Idaho Correctional Institution, and Idaho Correctional Institution-Orofino.

PWCC’s program is scheduled to launch in October.