Reentry Employment Development Endeavor

In conjunction with the pre-employment services provided at the Correctional Facilities MCCF WorkSource American Job Center (formerly the Montgomery Works One Stop Employment Center) the jail's Reentry Employment Development Endeavor (REDE) activity encompasses inmate pre-employment training in the Job Shop and the Digital Imaging Shop. In this setting, correctional officers provide soft skills training, workplace survival techniques, and assist in developing good work habits in both sentenced and unsentenced inmates. This type of training is the result of feedback from focus groups including inmates, Probation & Parole Officers, and potential ex-offender employers, all of whom stressed the importance and need for basic work habits and skills as essential for obtaining and maintaining employment placement in most industries.

The Job Shop training is task-based, including basic assembly work and bulk mail preparation. For six hours each weekday, inmate workers operate under the same language, etiquette and performance expectation of a normal business workplace.

The REDE Program is also involved in a joint collaboration with Montgomery County Public Libraries where we train offenders to professionally repair damaged library books. Selected inmates who participate in the program can earn industrial time credit towards reducing their sentence while acquiring new work skills. Books that would otherwise be discarded from the system can now be returned back into the County Library circulation thus providing a substantial cost saving to the county.

Having a positive work experience and understanding the associated dynamics is critical to sustaining post release lawful employment. Understanding that the structure provided by employment can be helpful in controlling destructive addictive behaviors is emphasized.

REDE tasks are conducted for local governmental agencies and local non-profit (501-C3) organization. Cost savings to these organizations is an important by-product of the program. This practice is consistent with the current restorative justice philosophy of having offenders make a contribution to the community in which their offense was committed.