Our National Strategic Partnerships (NSP) team brings you their second Smart Justice newsletter, a quarterly newsletter on trends in criminal justice reform in workforce and education.

On the national stage, read more about guidance for implementing meaningful education and work-based learning opportunities for incarcerated individuals, legislation to restore state financial aid for incarcerated students in Illinois, data examining the relationship between economic opportunity and public safety and a new national workforce development program to support the formerly incarcerated. Additionally, see examples of innovative chamber initiatives, including a workforce reentry and advancement program in Georgia, providing training on safety and crime prevention strategies for member businesses in Washington and a second chance job fair in partnership with the local Department of Corrections in Florida.

Additionally, the NSP team has the May edition of News to Know – exploring workforce and education trends on the national and regional levels. On the national stage, read more about: a rural college in Wisconsin committing to not graduating their students into poverty, the business case and ROI behind skills-first talent management, strategies for improving participation in child care subsidies and polices that grow economic mobility for middle-wage jobs. Additionally, read more about the innovative chamber initiatives across the country, including: the local partnerships driving career opportunities in Spokane, WA, workforce development for high-demand fields in Sarasota, FL, advocating for youth employment in New Jersey and strategies for reversing brain drain in Columbia, MO.