A state reentry program started last year is helping people who used to be incarcerated secure jobs on transportation work crews and get identification cards to access housing and healthcare more easily.

The N.C. Department of Transportation Transitional Work Pilot program seeks to make reentry easier for the people who are released from North Carolina prisons each year. The program also expanded the agency’s work release efforts so people will be better prepared for life after incarceration.

The program was created as a result of Executive Order 303 that calls on state agencies to improve reentry services for formerly incarcerated people who were having trouble finding jobs, healthcare, housing and other services. The executive order was signed in January 2024 by former Gov. Roy Cooper and continued under Gov. Josh Stein.

“Removing barriers, creating job opportunities, and improving reentry services so participants can be successful and productive after they leave prison helps reduce crime and breaks the cycle of relapse,” said state Transportation Secretary Joey Hopkins in a press release. 

Leslie Cooley Dismukes, secretary for the N.C. Department of Adult Correction, added:

“Providing state identification cards and opportunities for work release is vital to successful reintegration and makes our community safer. We appreciate the partnership we have with the Department of Transportation in improving reentry for people leaving prison.”

Several NCDOT units are working with the state Department of Adult Correction to improve reentry services. Those improvements include:  

• NCDOT’s On the Job Training program recently completed its first transportation work training academy for five formerly incarcerated people. Participants were trained in Raleigh in areas such as operating heavy equipment, directing traffic in work zones or surveying property. The work is part of NCDOT’s Highway Construction Trade Academies. During the academy, staff with NCDOT’s On the Job Training program worked with Correction Enterprises, the prison industry division of the N.C. Department of Adult Correction, to identify interested people recently released from prison or preparing to leave prison. Once enrolled in the academy, NCDOT employees, contractors and others spent two weeks training participants in highway construction related work. The academies use a combination of classroom and hands-on learning. On May 2, the last day of the course, the five formerly incarcerated people successfully completed the academy and each was hired to do transportation construction work after an on-site interview. The participants will start working soon at different job sites in the Raleigh area, said Rhonda Royster, NCDOT’s Workforce Development manager.
• The N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles stepping up its efforts to issue state ID cards to those who are eligible ahead of their release from prison. The identification cards are necessary for people to access healthcare, employment, housing and other services. On average, about 137 ID credentials are issued a month to incarcerated people or people soon leaving incarceration.
• NCDOT staff in the Charlotte area awarded a $274,000 contract in July to the Center for Employment Opportunities. NCDOT and the Charlotte firm have been putting formerly incarcerated people to work doing daily maintenance activities along Charlotte roads since last fall. Participants have cleaned up roadside litter, worked on traffic control or roadside mowing and maintenance services. The contract requires the center to screen participants for their eligibility and fitness to work. The center is also required to provide participants with proper protective equipment such as steel-toed boots, and free transportation to and from work sites. Staff with the center supervise participants at work sites. The arrangement has been successful because it has enabled NCDOT to put folks to work on much-needed daily maintenance tasks and assess future candidates for employment, said Felix Obregon, NCDOT’s maintenance engineer for the Charlotte-area highway division.

Other state agencies are improving their workforce development programs as part of the same executive order. Those include the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, and the N.C. Department of Public Safety.

NCDOT’s Ebony Pittman, the agency’s deputy secretary for Business Administration, said the program is trying to help some formerly incarcerated people overcome common obstacles to employment.    

“Individuals with prior incarceration face significantly lower callback rates from potential employers compared to those without criminal records,” Pittman said in a press release. “This program provides a meaningful pathway to both short-term and long-term employment for people who may be losing hope due to their past. Ultimately, formerly incarcerated people deserve a second chance.”

George Pettigrew, deputy secretary for the N.C. Department of Adult Correction, said: “We appreciate the close collaboration we have with NCDOT and look forward to working with them on more initiatives in the future that support the reentry process for the incarcerated population.”