opinion

Tommy Thompson: Help solve Wisconsin's coming labor shortage by rehabilitating prisoners

Throughout my career, perhaps driven by my passion and confidence in our great state, I’ve had an indelible belief, “Wisconsin works best when Wisconsin works together.”

As governor, believing neither political party had a monopoly on innovative ideas, I would invite my Republican colleagues into a room to work on an issue, and enjoy watching their disbelief as their Democrat counterparts would be seated next to them. When we listened to one another mutual respect grew — and good ideas became great ideas, with diverse opinions and experiences strengthening the end product.

Today, I take great pride in sharing the credit for what we accomplished on key issues including welfare reform and school choice, successful policy innovations in which Wisconsin created a blueprint adopted across the nation.

But time and reflection provide powerful historical lenses. As is often said, “Success has a thousand fathers…failure is an orphan.” I presided over the largest expansion of our state’s prison system, believing our families are safer as a result. But I've also come to believe that our corrections system and incarceration practices are both financially unsustainable and provide questionable outcomes worthy of strenuous review.

While constituencies on both sides of the political divide often bristle at any talk of, “criminal justice reform,” I believe there’s achievable consensus when focusing on “outcome-based criminal justice reform.”

Today, 22% of Wisconsin adults have criminal records. Setting aside those within the walls of our prisons who have so seriously violated the public trust that freedom is no longer an option, there remains an even larger population for which institutional constraint may one day come to an end.

Looking back, I regret not spending more time considering, “What does tomorrow look like for that parolee, and can we work together to help provide the necessary tools to reap a new opportunity?”

Past successes can lead to future challenges. Thirty years ago, I was fortunate to preside over the single largest period of sustained job growth in the state. The good news: We added more than 400,000 jobs. The bad news: Many of those who entered the Wisconsin workforce decades ago are retiring.

Wisconsin’s rapidly aging workforce — objectively described as my peers — will leave a massive employment hole. By 2025, the 65 and older population is expected to have increased by two-thirds, causing the so-called, “aging workforce cliff,” with 65-year-olds outnumbering 18-year-olds for the first time as soon as 2023. Add the 13,000 jobs Foxconn intends to bring our state, and there’s no single solution to this challenge.

At first glance, the Wisconsin prison population and retirees seem to have little in common. But what if you could fill, in part, the coming job vacancies with a committed and highly-trained homegrown workforce? A workforce trained with both job and life skills, coupled with a support network fully vested in their success? A support network that included state government, employers, business associations, trade associations, educational institutions and public/private social support organizations? All sharing the belief that Wisconsin works best when we work together.

Our prisons are full of people who want another chance to succeed. Here’s how we can help create better parolees and in turn help our state address workforce shortages:

• Create a core criteria/survey/interview process to find those incarcerated individuals who have both the desire and will to succeed after prison.

• Develop a “Second Chance Skills Institute” that would deliver certified job and entrepreneurial tools along with necessary life skills training. Participation would require a signed contract and a “no mistakes,” immediate expulsion policy. The program would have to be fully completed, similar to a skilled technical college degree.

• Work with state government, employers, business groups such as Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and trade unions both financially and for instructional and mentoring support.

• Convert an existing prison (or build a new one) to house the “Second Chance Skills Institute.” This secure hub would be part of the Department of Corrections, but fully supported by other state agency efforts including the Department of Workforce Development and the University of Wisconsin and technical college systems.

• Draw on technical schools, two-year colleges and social service organizations along with specifically-hired instructors.

• Develop a highly-structured early parole opportunity, with specific responsibilities and a “no mistake” clause for the most qualified graduates, in which a sponsor-business would provide a skills-specific job opportunity.

The end product, a highly-skilled and marketable job applicant best-equipped to enter the workforce and far-better equipped to reenter society. This high-quality program would create a highly marketable and sought after payroll-ready employee, permanently attached to an ongoing "Second Chance Skills Institute" support network.

I can hear my wide-eyed fiscally conservative friends stammering, “Tommy, how are we going to pay for this?”

Not unlike the successful W-2 welfare reform program I built, this may cost a little more up-front. But in the end, it will be less expensive than paying to re-imprison these parolees as repeat offenders.

“Second Chance Institute” graduates will be working taxpayers rather than costing working taxpayers. But I tend to think merely being a contributing taxpayer doesn’t fully- satisfy the front-end commitment and necessary investment program partners would need to make. I believe some sort of reasonable paycheck-drawn loan repayment is necessary, both in terms of addressing program costs but also to further define program value for our newfound successful graduate and working parolee.

I think it’s time for the Legislature to take a hard look at the 702 job-related consequences of committing a crime. Training individuals for jobs they legally can’t hold makes little sense.

The “Second Chance Skills Institute” could be part of a broader strategy to address the challenge of an aging workforce while also providing the tools, skills and lifelong supporting partners to generate opportunities for a select group of future parolees.

What if the first "Second Change Skills Institute" was located in Racine County, partnering with and neighboring the massive and employee-hungry Foxconn plant?

It’s worth repeating: “Wisconsin works best when we work together.”

It’s time for everyone: our legislative leaders, business and trade associations, educational institutions and social support networks to get to work. Except for the retirees: They can relax and enjoy what they have already accomplished.

Tommy Thompson is the former governor of Wisconsin. Madison attorney Steve Hurley contributed to this commentary.

Foxconn: Your questions, our answers

7 p.m., Tuesday, May 8, The Prairie School, 4050 Lighthouse Drive, Wind Point.

Moderated by Mitch Teich (WUWM) & Erin Richards (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).

As Foxconn makes plans to break ground on a massive manufacturing operation in Racine County, we’re returning to Racine for a night with the reporters covering this important project. We’ll answer your questions about the project’s impact on the environment, Wisconsin politics and local communities. Join Susan Bence of WUWM 89.7 - Milwaukee's NPR, Rick Romell of the Journal Sentinel and Jason Stein, a Journal Sentinel reporter who is about to join the Wisconsin Policy Forum, for an update on where things stand right now on the biggest economic development project in Wisconsin.

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