Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development received national recognition for its efforts with Project R.E.A.P. in county jails.
Putnam County Sheriff Eddie Farris said the program works to provide more education and workforce-related opportunities to help decrease recidivism rates among inmates. He said they’ve seen success with inmates graduating from programs geared towards helping them reintegrate into society.
“We had two ladies graduate just a couple of months ago and that was very helpful,” Farris said. “And it certainly helps them to get their confidence to get out and get into the workforce. And hopefully it helps them to not only get a job but maintain the job long-term, and that’s the goal.”
Farris said it is difficult to fully implement R.E.A.P. in the long term for most counties in Tennessee because of the time and money it takes to invest fully into the program. He said Putnam County jail has implemented components of the program, such as G.E.D. opportunities and resume-building workshops.
Farris said the expansion of the Putnam County jail brings the opportunity to get accredited. He said having an accredited facility will open the door for more grant opportunities to expand professional programs such as R.E.A.P. in hopes of helping more inmates.
“We certainly want to make them a better citizen than they came in for and try to get their lives straightened out or whatever that is to help them be successful out in our community and be a good part of our workforce,” “So we feel like it does, and there are several programs that’s doing that.”
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