M State and the Cass County Sheriff’s Office are partnering on a pilot project to provide targeted workforce training to people who are incarcerated at the county jail in Fargo.
The project aims to help the training participants make positive use of their time in jail and leave better equipped to find meaningful employment, increasing their chances of contributing to the local workforce and reducing their chances of returning to jail.
It’s the first time Cass County has offered college-level, curriculum-based coursework at the jail, and is part of a broader recent effort by the county to expand its program offerings for the people incarcerated there.
“The goal is to provide more experiences for people who are incarcerated that give them additional chances for positive achievements,” said Capt. Andrew Frobig, jail administrator for the Cass County Sheriff’s Office. “The training and classes we are offering here will make participants more prepared, qualified, and hopefully motivated to pursue constructive activities – perhaps additional formal education, and stable employment – once they are released from jail. An ultimate desired outcome is to reduce the rate of recidivism.”
Two 8-hour trainings are being conducted at the jail over two days in mid-April, to about 25 total participants – one group of men and one group of women. Math, blueprint reading and leadership skills pertinent to manufacturing-type jobs are being covered, with topics ranging from “conversational behavior in everyday life” and trust-building to “basic measurement tools used in manufacturing” and symbols commonly used in engineered print drawings.
M State’s Workforce Development Solutions division, or WDS, is providing the curriculum and instructors for the trainings. WDS has a longstanding reputation in the region as a top provider of workforce development training, having worked with over 500 companies in its 20-year history and annually delivering more than 100,000 hours of training to thousands of participants.
“M State is keenly aware of workforce shortage issues throughout the region and beyond,” said G.L. Tucker, executive director of WDS. “This new partnership with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office presents us with a fresh opportunity to address those shortages while also helping to better the lives of people within the justice system. M State’s mission is to provide ‘exceptional education, service and workforce training’ to all students, to ‘engage them in shaping their futures and their communities,’ and this is one more way for us to live that mission.”
The trainings are open to people who are currently incarcerated at the Cass County Jail in Fargo, in minimum-custody, and who have no court obligations on the days of the trainings. If all goes well during the pilot phase, the program may be expanded in the future.
“The participants here who have signed up are committed to going and are excited,” said Sgt. Ben Schwandt, programs administrator at Cass County Jail.