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Studies have shown the most effective weapon against recidivism is meaningful employment. Yet according to the Prison Policy Initiative, 27 percent of the formerly incarcerated are out of work. Why is that? Could our criminal justice system be doing more to prepare former inmates for life outside of prison walls?

With as many as 70 to 100 million Americans somehow touched by the criminal justice system through incarceration in prison or other means, the population appears to many as an untapped talent pool during a time employers are struggling to find enough skilled workers to fill more than seven million open jobs across the country.

This week on Work in Progress, I am joined by Aly Tamboura, program manager of incarceration for Chan Zuckerberg Initiative; Scott Budnik, founder of the Anti-Recidivism Coalition and of One Community films; Susan Burton, founder of a New Way of Life; and Mark Holden, the senior vice president of Stand Together.

The interviews were recorded at the ASU GSV Conference in San Diego, California and at the Milken Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California.

We hope you enjoy the conversation.

You can find Work in Progress, a WorkingNation podcast, anywhere you get your podcasts. Search Work in Progress and look for our logo.

Episode 103: Training the Formerly Incarcerated
Host: Ramona Schindelheim, WorkingNation Editor-in-Chief
Additional Interviews: Melissa Panzer, WorkingNation Executive Producer of Video Content
Producer: Anny Celsi
Executive Producers: Joan Lynch, Melissa Panzer, and Ramona Schindelheim
Music: Composed by Lee Rosevere and licensed under CC by 4.0.

You can check out all the other podcasts at this link: Work in Progress podcasts

Moving from incarceration into the workforce

Free to Succeed

Help wanted: Skilled workers needed