Adult Education and Family Literacy Act Program

In 2020, the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity - Workforce Development (LEO-WD) will conduct an open competition for qualified providers of corrections education to be funded under Section 225 of WIOA for a four-year grant cycle beginning in program year 2020-2021.  The LEO-WD will ensure direct and equitable access to all eligible providers by publishing the grant announcement and applicable documents on the LEO-WD Adult Education website.  Formal announcement of the request for applications will be widely circulated via press releases and all LEO-WD distribution lists.  Associations representing adult educators, literacy councils, community colleges, and workforce development agencies will be notified of the grant opportunity.

 The LEO-WD created a standardized application template that will be required for submission by all applicants. The application was created to meet the application requirements stated in Section 232 of AEFLA and was sent to OCTAE for review prior to the release of the grant announcement.

 The LEO-WD will require all applicants to demonstrate past effectiveness by providing performance data on improvement of eligible individuals’ skill levels, particularly eligible individuals who have low levels of literacy, in the content domains of reading, writing, mathematics, English language acquisition. Applicants are also required to provide data on outcomes for participants related to the attainment of secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent and transition to postsecondary education and training.  The LEO-WD defined past effectiveness as meeting at least 50 percent of the performance targets.  The overall measurable skill gain target rate was 47 percent for program year 2018-2019, so programs must have 23.5 percent of participants make a measurable skill gain to be deemed to have demonstrated effectiveness in providing adult education services.  Data from prior years and trends in past data will be taken into consideration.

 Only the applicants that meet the demonstrated effectiveness criteria will be considered for funding and those applications will be sent to the respective local board to review for alignment with the local plan.  The LEO-WD will provide written guidance and training to each local board via webinar, which proved to be very helpful during the last competition. Staff will provide a general overview of AEFLA, application requirements, and highlight the specific questions that should align with the goals and strategies identified in the local plan.

 Institutional applicants that receive an average score of 80 points out of a possible 100 will be approved for funding.  Applicants denied funding will be given the opportunity to appeal that decision.

 In Michigan, institutional funds will be used to support adult education services in state prisons and county jails. The LEO-WD has worked closely with the local school districts that offer services in the county jails and the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) to align corrections education and community adult education programs to ensure that incarcerated individuals have access to educational services that prepare them for employment, economic self-sufficiency, family roles, and responsible citizenship upon their release.

 The MDOC Prisoner Reentry Education Section is an integral part of overall prisoner employment readiness and provides academic, career technical, and workplace skills training for prisoners housed in the MDOC prisons. This is accomplished within a continuous quality improvement environment to ensure cost containment, while providing the most effective programs.

 The MDOC operates schools at 31 facilities and provides educational opportunities to nearly 7,000 prisoners each day.  Prisoners within two years of parole eligibility have the highest priority of service, and those beyond two years are to be on a waiting list and enrolled by earliest release date, as applicable.  A brief description of the available programs that may be supported with AEFLA funds is outlined below:

 Academic Education - MCL 791.233 (PA 320) requires prisoners to obtain a General Education Development (GED) prior to parole.  Adult Basic Education (ABE) and GED programs allow prisoners the opportunity to earn a GED while incarcerated. The curriculum is based on accepted content standards.  Classes are open entry/open exit in order to meet the students' needs.  All classes are taught by certified teachers.

 English Language Acquisition -  This program is offered to prisoners for whom English is not their native language and who are functioning below a 5th grade level in reading, as measured by the state-approved assessment tools.

 Special Education Services - Special Education Services are provided as required by the federally mandated Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act. Eligible students who are under the age of 22 receive services.  All special education classes are taught by certified special education teachers.

 Following are other programs or services available through the Michigan Department of Corrections Prisoner Reentry Education Section that adult education participants may be concurrently enrolled in but are supported with other state funding:

 Career and Technical Education – Career and Technical Education programs provide prisoners with trade specific instruction, technical skills, and soft- skill competencies critical to finding and maintaining employment. These programs offer a state or national certification that are transferable and can be used in future employment or in future educational opportunities. Career and Technical Education programs offer open entry /open exit enrollment.  Each program is filled to a maximum and waiting lists are kept minimal so that each prisoner can achieve educational goals as efficiently and economically as possible. Trade programs are responsive to labor market demands, collaborative with Michigan State Industries, articulated with Community Colleges, and supportive of career readiness certifications.  The following trade classes are currently being offered: Auto Mechanics, Building Trades, Building Trades Masonry – Concrete, Building Trades Plumbing – Electrical, Custodial Maintenance, Food Technology, Horticulture, Machine Tool, Optical Dispensing, Printing, and Welding.

 Employment Readiness - This course introduces prisoners to skills needed to gain and retain employment.  They include: financial literacy, soft skills competencies, employment preparedness, job search tools, life skills, and community resources.  A collaboration of community and facility resources are used to enhance learning outcomes, including job fairs.  Prisoners create a portfolio, including a resume, which can be used upon release.  Prisoners are provided with the opportunity to participate in Employment Readiness programming starting at reception and continuing throughout their incarceration. The focus is on the last two years before release.

 State Correctional Opportunities for Rehabilitation and Education/Prison Build - Prisoners gain valuable building experience while constructing wood cabins, cabinets, and housing components for state agencies and nonprofit organizations, such as Habitat for Humanity.  Horticulture students gain skill growing landscaping plants for Habitat projects, and native plants and trees for the Department of Natural Resources.

 WorkKeys Testing - The WorkKeys assessment is offered to every prisoner that is paroling.  This nationally recognized work skills assessment is used by employers, educators and workforce developers to measure work readiness in applied mathematics, locating information and reading for information.  Prisoners that score at a silver level or above will receive a National Career Readiness Certificate.

 Michigan will continue to use up to ten percent of our federal allocation available under Section 222(a)(1) to support adult education and literacy activities in correctional and other institutional facilities.