JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- As the Second Chance Act was signed into law by President George W. Bush to help ex-cons get back on their feet, Jacksonville city leaders also hoped to assist former prisoners find work as part of a major cleanup project.

With the signing of the aptly named Second Chance Act of 2007, the nation will provide comprehensive and coordinated services to help ex-offenders reintegrate and become productive members of society.

"The Second Chance Act is a major move toward solving a national crisis and giving the thousands of Americans the second chance they deserve," says Jim Gibbons, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International. "This new law will help staunch the flow of people back into prisons by giving them both hope and help."

The executive director of Jacksonville' Ready4Work program Kevin Gay watched the president sign the act into law.

The city's Ready4Work program has received national attention and has helped ex-offenders in the Jacksonville find work.

"What this program has equipped me with is employability and life skills that help me go back out to the community and obtaining legal work instead of going back to a life of crime," said Ready4 Work participant Sharnika Williams.

According to research, of the 650,000 people released from jails and prisons each year, seven out of 10 will commit new crimes within three years. But those who participate in prison education, vocational and work programs have better odds of staying out of jail.

"We know now that we have literally thousand of people going through the turnstile being returned every month and so the greatest way to address this crime program right now is to help these people get jobs, and we really believe that jobs really stop bullets," Gay said.

Meanwhile, Gay is getting some help from the city. City leaders said they hope Rady4Work participants will get jobs working on the cleanup efforts at former incinerator ash sites around Jacksonville. As part of the multimillion dollar ash clean up program Mayor John Peyton said he wants to give special incentives to companies that do the clean up by hiring ex-felons for the jobs.

"What we are hoping to accomplish here and I believe we will be the first in the nation giving incentives to contractors that are doing this excavation of work for us to use people that have made mistakes in life and paid the price for that and now want to enter society as productive people," said mayor's office spokeswoman Susie Wiles.