Workforce Alliance of South Central Kansas Receives Grant through Midwest Urban Strategies
The grant will support the expansion of services to persons reintegrating after incarceration in three
communities: Wichita KS, Kansas City MO, and Pittsburgh PA
Wichita — The Workforce Alliance of South Central Kansas (WA) has been awarded $992,107 as part of the
Pathway Home Grant from the U.S. Department of Labor in collaboration with the Midwest Urban Strategies
(MUS) partnership. MUS and three of its partnering workforce development boards will receive $3.5 million
in total for the grant. The WA is a member of MUS, a coalition of 13 workforce boards across 11 states that share
best practices and collaborate on projects addressing common employment issues in urban communities. This is
the second major grant award the WA has received from the MUS partnership. The Pathway Home Grant will
be used to expand employment and training services to individuals reintegrating after incarceration.
“Midwest Urban Strategies is proud to lead this regional strategy to assist in the transition of justice-involved
adults back to the workforce. Our partners in Kansas City (Full Employment Council), Pittsburgh
(Partner4Work) and Wichita (Workforce Alliance of South Central Kansas, Inc.) are all leaders in providing
services to this population and each has a demonstrated track record with reconnecting returning citizens to
employment,” said MUS executive director Tracey Carey.
Pathway Home Grants help fund reentry services to improve employment outcomes for adults involved in the
criminal justice system. As part of the award, MUS partners will offer individuals a variety of services to help
ease their transition back to society. The MUS project is modeled on evidence-based strategies from several of
its members that have had success working with the American Job Center Network and their region’s
correctional facilities.
“As Chairman of Midwestern Urban Strategies, I am extremely enthusiastic about this opportunity to execute
this ‘Public Workforce Systems Focused’ evidenced-based workforce strategy in working with returning
citizens through our local and state correctional facilities partners,” said Clyde McQueen, CEO of the Full
Employment Council Kansas City, Missouri.
“We are excited to illustrate how systems-oriented/outcomes and focused partnerships with the public
workforce systems successfully enable returning citizens to become skilled workers and engaged citizens in our
communities.”
The grant is designed to provide services for 300 participants, including 100 in the Wichita area, who are
reintegrating from incarceration. The project will run a total of 42 months, beginning with a planning phase
through December 2020. The WA intends to begin providing services through this grant in January of 2021.
Local partners include the Kansas Department of Corrections, Kansas Legal Services, the Wichita Regional
Chamber of Commerce, and WSU Tech.
“The funding will allow the Workforce Alliance to deliver expanded services to reintegrating individuals
including education and training, job preparation, legal aid, and assistance connecting to other important social
services” said Keith Lawing, CEO of the Workforce Alliance of South Central Kansas.
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