Jesse Scheckner
Florida prisoners who take career and technical courses while incarcerated will have an easier time getting licensed upon their release under legislation now heading to the House floor.
The House Judiciary Committee voted 21-0 for HB 195, which would provide ex-convicts a clearer path to skilled employment once they serve their sentences.
The two-page bill’s aim is simple. It would require the state’s Correctional Education Program (CEP) to create a plan with professional boards, regulated by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, to ensure that inmates who meet curriculum requirements receive credit toward professional licensure
“This will help them, upon release, to apply to those licensure boards so they can be duly employed,” said Homestead Democratic Rep. Kevin Chambliss, who sponsored the measure with Lake Mary Republican Rep. Rachel Plakon.
The CEP offers 92 career and technical courses in 37 vocational trades that are aligned with Florida’s in-demand occupations, according to the Department of Corrections website. Between 2020 and 2024, inmates have earned 36,189 career certificates and industry-recognized credentials through the CEP.
Local governments can also implement their own plans, such as one in Miami-Dade County providing up to $400,000 yearly for education programs.
Research has shown that recidivism — committing a crime and returning to prison after being released following a separate offense — is lower among people who find stable, quality employment post-incarceration.
Not all jobs produce the same results. Skilled, stable work that requires schooling or apprenticeship — career jobs, in other words — provides somewhat better insulation from recidivism than “survival jobs,” according to Susan McNeeley, senior research analyst at the Minnesota Department of Corrections.
But it may not be as impactful as previously thought. A study of employment’s impact on recidivism McNeeley published in March 2023 found that, in general, “vocational education was not related to better outcomes in terms of either recidivism or employment.”
Correctional programs, she noted, “are most successful when they establish a continuum of care in which participation begins in the facility and continues into the community.”
Ocoee Democratic Rep. LaVon Bracy Davis said she visited several correctional facilities over the past year, and the inmates there “want a fresh start.”
“There are a lot of barriers once they get out of incarceration, and oftentimes it’s difficult for them to find employment and housing,” she said. “This (bill) sends a very clear message to those returning citizens that they are not forgotten, that we want them to be productive citizens.”
Several advocacy organizations — the Florida Retail Federation, Florida Smart Justice Alliance, Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, National Utility Contractors Association of Florida, Alliance for Safety and Justice, Americans for Prosperity, Florida Policy Institute, and Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers — signaled support for the measure.
Chambliss said HB 195 isn’t only about preventing recidivism; it’s also about delivering a return on investment to Floridians and filling gaps in the state’s workforce.
“We are spending taxpayer dollars to educate our prisoners. It’s very important that they can use that education towards their careers upon release,” he said.
“We know that there will be labor shortages. We’ve talked with the different chambers about that. And the truth is we want to make sure there are people to do these jobs. We train them in our prisons. Let’s make sure they can get employed once they leave prison.”
HB 195, co-sponsored by Davie Democratic Rep. Mike Gottlieb, pends scheduling for a House floor vote.
Its upper-chamber analogue (SB 472) by Tavares Republican Sen. Keith Truenow has two more stops before it reaches the Senate floor.
