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REUTERS
WASHINGTON
THE OBAMA administration on Friday rolled out a series of education and work training initiatives focused on helping convicted criminals avoid returning to prison, part of President Barack Obama's legacy-shaping effort to overhaul the US criminal justice system as he prepares to leave office.
The measures include a program that will link 67 colleges and universities with 141 correctional facilities to provide education and training to about 12,000 inmates. The program will offer federal Pell grants to prisoners, with an emphasis on inmates set to be released within five years of starting classes.
"The bottom line is that our communities are less safe when the stigma of incarceration prevents Americans from truly ever shedding their prison jumpsuit," White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett said on a call with reporters.
"When people leave prisons and can't turn their lives around, they too often end up back behind bars," she said.
Other programs unveiled on Friday will offer $31 million in grants for organizations to offer occupational training and apprenticeship opportunities for young adults and more than $5 million to organizations that help inmates prepare for employment.
Obama's top cabinet members for justice, education, labor and housing praised the reentry initiatives as common-sense reforms that should have been in place long ago.
"All the little things that people take for granted generate tremendous obstacles for people who are coming out of the criminal justice system," Attorney General Loretta Lynch said at a panel hosted by the left-leaning Center for American Progress think tank. Obtaining photo identification or being considered for job opportunities were two examples.
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25/06/2016
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