The District's Re-Entry Program Receives Top National Honor - Releases

(Washington, DC) Project Empowerment Plus (PE+), the District’s ex-offender re-entry program, was recently awarded the US Department of Labor’s top Recognition of Excellence (ROE) award in the “Recognizing Special Populations in the Workforce” category. The award was presented at the third Workforce Innovations Conference in Anaheim, California, where more than 3,000 workforce development professionals from around the country were in attendance.

The ROE award honors educational and job training programs that have met and exceeded the needs of local and regional economies and can be replicated throughout the country. In an official statement issued by the US Department of Labor, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training Emily Stover DeRocco said, “Recognition of Excellence honorees are proof of the workforce system’s capacity to develop new and innovative approaches for preparing workers to compete in the global economy.”

The Employment and Training Administration awards honorees in five categories. The “Recognizing Special Populations in the Workforce” category focuses on innovative ways to effectively integrate every available worker in the labor force.

Acknowledging the ROE award, Gregg Irish, Director of the Department of Employment Services said that the program had the complete support of countless public and private organizations and a special commitment from Mayor Anthony Williams, which ensured a greater level of success. “When re-entry is given proper attention, families and communities are restored and ex-offenders regain confidence, self-sufficiency and independence, which is the result that the program and the agency strives to achieve.”

Project Empowerment Plus (PE+), a US Department of Justice-funded workforce development re-entry program coordinated through the Department of Employment Services, served high risk and violent juvenile offenders and adult felons who were released from prison within the past 12 months. The program exceeded its planned enrollment of 250 beneficiaries by 22 percent. More than 57 percent of the participants

who started in subsidized employment have moved into jobs unsubsidized by the program, with an average hourly wage that is 62 percent higher than the District’s minimum wage.