On July 29, 2014, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Labor Secretary Tom Perez toured a correctional facility in Boyds, Maryland touting the benefits of jobs and education programs for inmates to help them prepare for a work life after prison.  As reported by NPR, Secretary Perez said that “We have 2,700 American job centers across the country. But I need one hand or perhaps just my thumbs to count the number of American job centers that are here in jails.”  According to the story the “Labor Department and the Justice Department are launching a new program to bring the job centers to 10 more sites. Attorney General Eric Holder says inmates who participate in these programs have lower rates of recidivism and the old way of doing things doesn’t work.”

The media event in at the Clarksville Correctional Facility in Boyds highlights other initiatives of the Labor Department, including its February 2014 announcement that the Department “announced the availability of approximately $30 million through the second round of the Training to Work — Adult Reentry competitive grant program to help men and women participating in a state or local prison work-release programs gain the job skills necessary to succeed in an in-demand occupation upon reintegrating back into society.”