Tuscaloosa County Moves Forward On Jobs Portal For Those Previously Incarcerated

TUSCALOOSA, AL — The Tuscaloosa County Commission on Wednesday approved a measure that will see the development of an online employment portal for those wishing to reenter the workforce after having been previously incarcerated.

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Assistant County Administrator David Howell explained that West AlabamaWorks — a workforce development nonprofit that serves a nine-county region in west Alabama — requested an extension of its $175,000 American Rescue Plan Act grant through the coming year.

As part of this request, the nonprofit also asked that the county open its employment portal for its Second Chance program. West AlabamaWorks serves residents and employers in Bibb, Fayette, Greene, Hale, Lamar, Marengo, Pickens, Sumter, and Tuscaloosa counties.

Tuscaloosa County Probate Judge Rob Robertson, who chairs the County Commission, mentioned the I.G.N.I.T.E Student Employment Portal launched over the summer, before saying it would be seamless to recast the portal for those who have been incarcerated.

This comes amid a wider push by area workforce development officials to offer opportunities to those who want to better their lives. As Patch previously reported, Tuscaloosa County District Attorney Hays Webb's office and West AlabamaWorks are set to host a second chance hiring event Aug. 30 at the McDonald Hughes Center in Tuscaloosa.

"The success of the youth student employment portal this summer, we thought it was needed but it just took off," he said. "Based on that model and conversations, why not reskin it, change the data and why not do it for Second Chance?"

District 1 Commissioner Stan Acker made a motion to adopt the measure, which was seconded by District 2's Jerry Tingle and unanimously approved by the Commission.

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