JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Normally when people get into trouble with the law they find it difficult to get a new start and find employment so, Hinds County is starting a reentry program aimed at giving former inmates a second chance.
Applications will be accepted on Wednesday, September 1st at the Jackson Convention Center from 9:30AM -4PM. To apply, you must have been convicted of at least one felony, provide a legal form of identification, proof of age and proof of Hinds County residency. Sex offenders will not be accepted.
And after showing proof of the requirements, candidates will have a follow-up interview and must agree to taking a COVID-19 test before the interview is scheduled.
Once selected to the program individuals will attend an eight week orientation and attend classes at Hinds community college that leads to job certifications. Also, they must agree to random drug testing. Failure to comply can result in consequences.
“Our purpose is to assist individuals with a second chance to put them in place to be able to secure employment, any other services they may need to be so they can be contributing members of society” said Louis Armstrong, the director of the Hinds County re-entry department.
This program is modeled after Birmingham‘s Dannon project, one of the top reentry programs nationwide with reportedly a 92% success rate.
Hinds County Board of supervisors president Cordell Calhoun says he’s worked on this project for over a year and has finally been able to raise the funds for it starting with approximately $50,000 and now nearly $600,000.
“We are trying very hard to make Jackson safer through this reentry program by putting people back to work” said Calhoun.