Over 400 former inmates complete trucking program in Arizona

PHOENIX — Over 400 former Arizona inmates have finished a job-skills training program in trucking, officials said Wednesday.

The interagency program — funded through a Department of Education grant — gives certain inmates the ability to obtain their commercial learner’s permit prior to release from prison, according to an Arizona Department of Transportation press release.

The CDL program is made up of various agencies, including ADOT, the Department of Health Services and the Phoenix Truck Driving Institute.

Eric Jorgensen, director of ADOT’s Motor Vehicle Division, said in the release that the program is an “example of collaboration between state agencies to reduce recidivism and the shortage of commercial drivers.”

The program, originally launched at the Eagle Point Unit of Arizona State Prison Complex, expanded to the women’s Perryville Prison last November.

Since its inception at the Second Chance Center in Goodyear, at least 76 women have finished the job-skills training program and are eligible to pursue their CDLs in the community, the release said.

“Programs such as this are crucial opportunities that help people change their lives as they return to the community,” David Schinn, director of ADCRR, said in the release.

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