Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services

Building for Success

Topics At A Glance

• Correctional Education 
• Vital Records 
• Workforce Development 

Correctional Education

• During FY10, as the Department of Labor Licensing and Regulation continued their transition into the management of correctional education, the average enrollment in academic classes was 2,060, filling 87% of available seats.
• 909 offenders completed Occupational Skills Training classes during FY10, with a completion rate of 99.8%.

• Also with a completion rate of 99.5%, Transitional Service classes were completed by 3,364 students.
• GED or High School diplomas were received by 704 offenders while incarcerated during FY10. 

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Vital Records

• Over the past two years DPSCS enhanced our efforts to provide returning offenders with the vital records needed to make a successful transition into society.  Securing housing, applying for employment and medical assistance require legal identification such as birth certificates, social security cards and a valid state MVA license. 
• In FY10 more than 2,800 MVA IDs were issued to offenders either prior to or within 120 days their release.  3,134 offenders also left prison with a social security card and 3,380 had a birth certificate. 

• Additionally, the Division of Correction began targeting inmates soon to be released who were also in need of Social Security cards and birth certificates. Of those, Social Security card applications were submitted for 81% of targeted inmates. And birth certificate applications were submitted for 87% of targeted inmates
• During FY10 the Department also increased our focus on educating key stakeholders about the importance of these documents and how their involvement can make a difference in the reentry of offenders.

• Transition Services personnel met with internal staff throughout DPSCS who work directly with offenders as they near their release within the prisons and parole/probation staff who help offenders adjust to life on the outside after release, as well as with community affiliates who frequently work with this population.

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Workforce Development

• Maryland Correctional Enterprises (MCE), the industry arm of the Division of Correction, continued to expand their job training skills to a record number of offenders during FY10.  They employed a monthly average of 2,038 inmates, a 9% increase from FY09, and a 56% increase over FY07.
• A total of 2.89 million hours of employment/training for this population were supplied by MCE jobs during FY10.

• At the conclusion of FY10 MCE’s CARES (Continuing Allocation of Reentry Services) program, a transitional employment opportunity for offenders nearing release, graduated their 100th student.  The program expands the benefits of workplace experience by adding cognitive thinking and employment readiness classes during the evening in a pre-release correctional setting.
• On March 23, 2010, at the National Correctional Industries Association Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio, CEO Steve Shiloh accepted the NCIA’s prestigious Rodli Award for on behalf of MCE employees for their contributions to correctional industries.

• An extension of the MCE Warehouse in Hagerstown was completed in May 2010 – this project not only allowed MCE to expand their services to customers, but also afforded an inmate work crew the opportunity to work under the assigned contractual company and gain real-life construction experience in concrete, masonry, painting, mechanical, sprinkler systems and general labor.

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