AN ACT Relating to increasing opportunities for apprenticeships for inmates; adding a new section to chapter 72.09 RCW; and providing an expiration date.

(1) The legislature finds that providing quality training, employment navigation, and supportive employment services helps former inmates lead successful family-wage careers postrelease. Inmates who participate in vocational training are twenty-eight percent more likely to be employed after their release than those who do not receive vocational training. Vocational training programs are cost-effective when comparing the investment in workforce development costs to the cost of reincarceration.

(2) The secretary shall award a nongovernmental agency experienced with preapprenticeship training and employment navigation with one hundred thousand dollars annually to establish an apprenticeship opportunity pilot program at the Monroe correctional complex until December 31, 2023. The apprenticeship opportunity pilot program will help former inmates complete preapprenticeship training, as well as provide the training, employment navigation, and support services needed to help inmates enter and succeed in apprenticeship programs.

(3) The nongovernmental agency partner shall provide former inmates with the requisite tools and other support services to increase the likelihood of former inmates completing their apprenticeships.

(4) The nongovernmental agency partner shall track the following information regarding the participating inmate for two years after his or her release:

(b) Employment history and pattern, including monthly checks of whether the former inmate continues to be employed;

(e) Stability chart that includes the participating inmate's geographical city, housing, food security, and transportation.

(5) The department shall report to the legislature on the effectiveness of the apprenticeship opportunity pilot program, including an analysis of the data collected under subsection (4) of this section, by December 31, 2023.