DeSantis touts program to help inmates leaving prison
Ron DeSantis visited a Jacksonville nonprofit Friday to announce the creation of a direct-support organization to help inmates find jobs after they complete their sentences. The organization, called the Florida Foundation for Correctional Excellence, will work with businesses and nonprofit groups to raise money for workforce training and re-entry programs. DeSantis said the private sector needs to have “skin in the game” for the programs to grow. DeSantis chose to announce the new organization at Operation New Hope, a Jacksonville-based nonprofit organization that provides a support system to those who have been incarcerated. He said he would rather dedicate resources to Floridians who are getting out of prison than “having people come in from a foreign country, oftentimes illegally,” to get jobs.
Decriminalizing marijuana, Operation New Hope and Ability Housing
City Councilman Garrett Dennis on his efforts to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana, Operation New Hope Founder Kevin Gay on the success of reentry, and Ability Housing President Shannon Nazworth on where Jacksonville stands for affordable housing.
Vice President Pence, Ivanka Trump to visit Jacksonville Friday
Getty ImagesJACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Vice President Mike Pence announced Wednesday on Twitter that he and the president's daughter and adviser, Ivanka Trump, will visit a work program in Jacksonville on Friday. Details are not yet available, but Pence said they will visit Operation New Hope to highlight its program that gets ex-inmates back into the workforce. They will then tour Miller Electric and deliver remarks to its employees and invited guests. "They will highlight private sector engagement in expanding workforce development and apprenticeship opportunities for all Americans a key component of the Trump Administrations Pledge to Americas Workers," a White House release said. U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson visited Operation New Hope in March 2018.