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Providing Hope In West Virginia

Hopelessness, addiction and incarceration have created a vicious cycle in West Virginia, as the number of unfilled jobs continues to go up, but the obstacles faced by those trying to rebuild their lives remain as frustrating as ever. Fortunately, it appears some public officials have begun to put two and two together and understand they need to break the cycle.

“In the state of West Virginia, when they step out of prison, they have 851 potential barriers they have to get to simply because they have a criminal record,” Jacob Green, superintendent of the West Virginia Department of Education’s Schools of Diversion and Transition, told WV MetroNews. “That could cause issues with access to employment, housing, transportation, the list goes on.”

As the number of those being incarcerated has increased dramatically in recent years, the effort to help those folks re-enter society and become productive citizens has had a hard time keeping up. But those at WVSDT are trying, as are those at the Department of Education’s Adult Education office.

“It’s a service that we provide to adults who maybe lack their high school equivalency, maybe they had to drop out of school or they need skills to enter into the workforce, or even transition to post-secondary education and training,” said Mendy Marshall, director of the adult education office.

Such programs should receive as much support as possible, as we struggle with the two-headed monster of economic woes and a growing population of those trying to find their way back from personal darkness. Once a person has served his or debt to society, or has transitioned into a life of recovery, it is important we give them the hand up they need to avoid spiraling backward. We owe it to them and our state as a whole.

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