The FIRST STEP Act
Vehicles for Change
By Martin Schwartz
Aug 20, 2019
Workforce Development | Government + Politics | Social Causes
According to PBS News Hour, in the last 40 years, the federal prison population has risen more than 600 percent. The problem? Far too many of these individuals are returning to prison due to struggles with unemployment, housing instability, substance abuse and other barriers when they come home. Many have difficulty overcoming the trauma they experienced during their incarceration and reestablishing ties to family and community. In its current state, the federal prison system is failing to achieve its purpose: rehabilitation. Instead, the system tends to separate people from their families (sometimes more than hundreds of miles) and leaves them with fewer career, housing and wellness opportunities than when they entered the system.
In December 2018, a bipartisan bill passed that will attempt to reduce the number of men and women currently incarcerated and reduce recidivism. The goal is to give nonviolent offenders the chance to reenter society as productive, law-abiding citizens – in most cases, much sooner than anticipated if an inmate exhibits good behavior and takes advantage of vocational training programs.
Related to recidivism the bill includes the following provisions:
- Moving people closer to home – because contact with family is one of the most important aspects that helps individuals reintegrate successfully, the bill mandates prisoners be placed within 500 driving miles of their families.
- Providing IDs – to ensure individuals leaving federal prison have a legal photo ID prior to their release. This will reduce the collateral consequences of incarceration by allowing an expedited integration back into society.
- Creating and expanding life-changing training – under the new bill, millions of dollars have been allocated to the development and expansion of programming focused on skill-building, education and vocational training.
While there are many additional benefits to FIRST STEP, the main focus must be on the life-changing training -- and not just any training, but in fields where individuals can find career employment opportunities that pay a living wage and more. Vehicles for Change’s Full Circle Auto Mechanic Training program is a prime example of such a program and has been met with astonishing success: a 100% completion and job placement rate with an average starting salary of $35,000 and less than a 2% recidivism rate (while the national average remains near 60%).
Learn more about the program and its trainees in a recent Washington Post article. You can get involved with Vehicles for Change by making a monetary gift, donating a car, becoming a sponsor or hiring Full Circle graduates. For more information or to act, please visit the VFC website.