Quick Links
Career Technical Education-Carpentry
The California Prison Industry Authority (CALPIA) and the Northern California Carpenters Regional Council have established a pre-apprenticeship program that teaches inmates construction skills they can use to successfully obtain employment upon parole.
Since the establishment in 2006, there have been three graduating classes. The first two graduating classes (June 2006 and Feb 2007) were inmates incarcerated at California State Prison, Sacramento, and one recent (August 2007) graduating class of female inmates incarcerated at California Institution for Women (CIW).
Program Goals
The training can lead to jobs with construction companies that employ organized labor in various skill sets including concrete pouring, framing, drywall, taping and texturing, painting, roofing, and finished carpentry skills.
The program prepares inmates for employment opportunities through training as in important steps to successfully transition back into and become productive members of society.
Values to Inmates
After completion of the training, the first of its type in the nation, paroling inmates will be eligible for placement in a full-scale apprenticeship program, offered through the Carpenters Training Committee for Northern California, which leads to jobs with construction companies that employ organized labor. CALPIA will pay the initial union dues and provide a full complement of tools to inmates who complete the program and enter into Northern California Carpenter Unions.
Training Program Description
As part of the new training program called "Career Technical Education-Carpentry," inmates work in three different areas:
- The new Modular Building Enterprise, 30,000 square foot facility located at Folsom State Prison, provides rehabilitative work assignments for inmates in building modular structures where portable structures will be manufactured, sold and subsequently transported for use at various prisons, juvenile centers and State agencies throughout the State.
- Pre-Apprenticeship Program, where inmates have refurbished and converted the previously vacant Green Valley Fire Camp 12, at Folsom State Prison into the Green Valley Training Center. Inmates gain proficiencies in various skill sets including concrete pouring, framing, drywall, taping and texturing, painting, roofing, and finished carpentry skills.
- 3. Pre-Apprenticeship Program, where female inmates have refurbished an onsite CALFIRE training facility located at CIW. Inmates gain proficiencies in various skill sets including concrete pouring, framing, drywall, taping and texturing, painting, roofing, and finished carpentry skills.
For more information on this program, please contact Tim Linn at 916-358-2669 or email Tim.Linn@calpia.ca.gov