Workforce System Success Stories - Workforce Development and Adult Learning

MEET ANTOINE...
Correctional Education – Occupational Skills Training Center
While in prison, Antoine achieves occupational skills training leading to successful re-entry.

Antoine went to prison at the age of 17. He was released at the age of 38, having spent more than half of his life behind prison walls. The father of a young man in his early twenties, Antoine knew that he wanted to make a change, so he “hit the ground running” upon release. What was his is game plan? He wanted to learn to repair automobiles.

While in prison, Antoine took classes at the Occupational Skills Training Center. The classes were offered as a part of the Maryland Department of Labor’s Correctional Education program. His teacher was quite impressed with Antoine and highly recommended him for the new re-entry program offered through the Maryland Department of Labor to provide him with an automotive internship at the Full Circle Service Center, Vehicles for Change’s new auto repair shop.

Antoine was accepted into the new training program in September of 2015, making the journey from Baltimore Pre-Release Unit to Halethorpe, Maryland each day. One of the lead mechanics at Vehicles for Change quickly saw the potential that Antoine possessed and enlisted him to take on jobs with increasing complexity.

Recognizing the potential for advancement as an intern, Antoine took his work seriously and became a leader at Full Circle Service Center. Antoine thrived under the tutelage of the lead instructor at Vehicles for Change’s lead automotive instructor. His successful training resulted in four ASE certifications. In early February 2016, Antoine was released on parole and was later offered a full-time job as a mechanic at MileOne in Catonsville, MD. Antoine has the special honor of being the first former inmate to be hired at a MileOne dealership.