Pathway to a brighter future

Inmates going into jail often struggle to make ends meet financially, but a new state grant hopes to reverse course and help them overcome barriers to find meaningful jobs.
The Steele County Detention Center has teamed up with Workforce Development, Inc. (WDI) to offer Pathway Home Grant, a two-year project offering more than $500,000 in training for incarcerated folks. The training portion is part of a $1.6 million grant for the program.
Steele County has served as a pilot for the project, according to Molly Titchenal, career navigator with WDI.
“We have received funding to connect with people while in jail,” said Titchenal. “We want to provide them with services once they leave jail.”
The program began in January and will continue for another 18 months. It involves Steele, Rice, Dodge, Freeborn, Mower, Fillmore and Olmsted counties. The U.S. Department of Labor awarded the grant.
Titchenal is working closely with Cindy Fowler, coordinator of programming for the detention center. Requirements include inmates must live in one of the 10 counties involved and be incarcerated at least 20 days and no more than 180 days, Fowler said.
The program allows inmates to obtain job search assistance, employer connections, career planning, resume assistance, interview preparation, skill-building and community resources.
WDI has teamed up with area colleges, including RTC in Rochester, Riverland in Austin, Albert Lea and Owatonna and Minnesota State College Southeast in Red Wing.
They can provide specialized training like welding and forklift operating. The welding program, for example, consists of 40 hours of training.
“We want to give them skills they need to be successful on the job,” Titchenal said. “Hopefully, this will change their lives to get them on the right path.”
Because of COVID-19, Titchenal has been working with inmates on an individualized basis exclusively through Zoom. However, she hopes that will change within the next six months so that she can begin helping them one-on-one.
Fowler said many inmates come into jail often working at low-paying, minimum-wage jobs. This program will help train inmates to achieve jobs averaging $20 per hour and even up to $30 to $40 per hour, she said.
“That gets their attention,” Fowler said. “It beats the $8 to $9 per hour jobs they are used to.”
It’s Fowler’s job to recruit potential candidates in the jail. Once she identifies someone who qualifies, she meets with them individually to make them aware of the program, which is available to them at no charge. Fowler said inmates are often surprised to learn about the program and don’t believe it’s real.
The reaction Fowler is used to getting from inmates is: “Why do you care so much?”
Fowler counters by telling them that she believes in them, and in turn, they need to believe in themselves. “They lose hope. I like to show them they are capable and they can be successful,” she said, adding they often don’t have the support system in place to guide them.
For Titchenal, it doesn’t bother her that she is working with people who have committed crimes. “I just see them as people in a tough situation and how can I help them,” she said. “I’m humble. I don’t discriminate on who I want to help.”
Titchenal said she doesn’t abandon the inmates once they have completed the program and get released from jail. She sticks with them and acts as a resource to help them find jobs and maintain employment.
“It’s huge to have someone believe in them,” said Anthony Buttera, administrator of the detention center. “It has an impact on them.”
Buttera said the model of corrections has changed significantly in recent years with more of a focus on helping inmates with life skills to keep them from going out and committing more crimes.
He said the program hasn’t taken off quite as they hoped because of the pandemic restrictions. But, Buettera added, it’s a great opportunity and has had an impact on inmates.
Titchenal said some employers don’t want to work with inmates regardless of their stories and improved training. She makes notes of those and doesn’t steer inmates to those companies.
She is mindful of the needs of employers. “I don’t send them individuals that I think will fail,” Titchenal said.  
In her 18 years at the detention center, Fowler said she has never seen a program like this. “This has been a dream,” she said. “Instead of holding them here, let’s help them so they can succeed in the community. Corrections is changing and this is a positive direction.”
Added Titchenal, “We hope we are successful and there will be another round (of funding) when this ends.”