Employment: Preapprenticeship Pathways to Employment Pilot Program.

Senator Smallwood-Cuevas advances a time-limited Preapprenticeship Pathways to Employment Pilot Program designed to place incarcerated individuals on a documented pathway toward state-registered apprenticeships in skilled construction trades, with implementation led by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in partnership with the Department of Industrial Relations and recognized trades councils. The measure situates the program within the Penal Code to provide access to high-quality preapprenticeship training that aligns with industry standards in trades such as carpentry, ironwork, sheet metal, laborers, and operating engineers.

Core provisions require MC3—Multi-Craft Core Curriculum—based instruction (as recognized by the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California) and coordinated content with local joint apprenticeship training committees, to prepare participants for entry into union-affiliated skilled trades. Eligible participants include incarcerated individuals within 24 months of release who express interest in trades careers, and the program must be accessible across CDCR facilities with at least one men’s facility and one women’s facility to ensure equity, including gender-responsive institutions. The curriculum covers classroom and hands-on training in construction safety, trade mathematics, blueprint reading, and industry orientation, with certified instructors delivering the instruction and coordinating with JATCs. A completion yields an MC3 certification from a certified training provider, and the program includes comprehensive wraparound services—career readiness and case management, employment and training, behavioral health and substance use services, housing, transportation, family and childcare support, legal services, digital and financial literacy, and basic needs support—designed to facilitate transitions into apprenticeships after release, with access based on facility needs, proximity to release, and participant interest rather than race or gender.

Implementation and oversight are structured as a pilot with a deadline to establish the program by January 1, 2028, and with annual reporting to the Legislature beginning January 1, 2029. The reporting requires data on enrollment, completion, and placements in registered apprenticeships or related employment, plus facility-by-site breakdown and identified barriers, submitted in compliance with standard government reporting practices. The measure remains in effect only until January 1, 2032, when the chapter would be repealed. The program is described as a distinct addition to existing employment-focused initiatives for formerly incarcerated individuals, operating alongside but not repealing current programs, and it emphasizes cross-agency collaboration with DIR and trades councils to align with the broader apprenticeship system and workforce development framework.