The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors on Oct. 6 approved a contract to provide employment development and subsidized employment services to individuals who are on probation.

The Santa Barbara County Probation Department has partnered with the Workforce Development Board (WDB), Department of Social Services (DSS), and Goodwill Industries to increase employment opportunities through the Prison to Employment (P2E) program.

The WDB and Probation Department entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a public/private collaboration to address the employment needs of unemployed and underemployed adults who are under probation supervision in Santa Barbara County.

Through grant funding provided by DSS and WDB, the Probation Department will collaborate with Goodwill Industries to implement the P2E program.

The P2E program will strengthen linkages between the state workforce and corrections systems to improve the process by which formerly incarcerated and justice-involved individuals reenter society and the labor force by providing direct and supportive services.

P2E services are targeted to individuals reentering local communities from local jails and state prisons, and are intended to improve employment outcomes and reduce recidivism for the supervised populations through the creative and effective alignment of training, education and other services, with the industries and employers driving regional employment.

Clients will be identified at the Probation Report and Resource Centers, complete a job readiness class, and referred to the P2E program. The program will include outreach, intake assessment, enrollment, subsidized employment, and career coaching (case management), often need for justice-involved individuals to move toward self-sufficiency.

For more information about the Santa Barbara County Probation Department, visit www.sbprobation.org.