Sen. John Cornyn met with North Texas nonprofit leaders at Bonton Farms in southern Dallas on Thursday to discuss programs that help formerly incarcerated people reentering the workforce.

Cornyn is crafting legislation aimed at extending a pilot program with permanent funding.

Bonton Farms is one of several Texas nonprofits the Republican senator has visited the last few months to hear feedback from agency leaders, workforce development leaders and formerly incarcerated people on the Workforce Reentry Act.

The $100 million in U.S. Department of Labor’s Reentry Employment Opportunities grants would become permanent under the Workforce Reentry Act, which was introduced into the House in November by Rep. Lloyd Smucker, R-Pa.

Bonton Farms president Gabe Madison welcomed Cornyn to the urban farm, which feeds families in long-neglected southern Dallas. The nonprofit’s coffee shop employs formerly incarcerated people and provides tiny homes for those in need, including those who recently left the criminal justice system.

Madison urged support for reentry programs that are individualized to a person’s needs and target barriers many formerly incarcerated people face like housing, education and transportation.

“Reentry is not cookie cutter,” Madison said. “Everybody doesn’t fit that certain mold.”

After spending 27 years in prison, Eddie Solis, a Bonton Farms client, said he felt intimidated and overwhelmed by how the world had changed.

“I came back to the free world not knowing things,” Solis said.

Solis graduated from a Bonton Farms apprenticeship program, which he said was a blessing after he was released with no support lined up.

“I was like a seed,” Solis said. “I needed water. I needed somewhere to grow. And this is where it is.”

Little support when leaving prison

Cornyn said the justice system has lost sight of rehabilitation for incarcerated people, who often have little support when leaving prison.

“They can’t get a job, and they can’t find a place to live,” Cornyn said. “Well, that’s two strikes against the person.”

Some of the most successful programs begin before a person is released from prison, which cuts down on time for skills training and certificate programs, Cornyn said.

Cornyn recalled visiting a reentry program in the Coffield Unit in eastern Texas’ Tennessee Colony.

“One of the instructors was teaching some of the inmates woodshop and he told me that there were people in shop class who didn’t even know how to read a tape measure,” Cornyn said.

Since 2015, the federal grants Cornyn is trying to make permanent have helped 100 organizations nationwide support over 9,000 people annually through reentry employment programs, according to the Department of Labor.

The grants have funded mentoring, job training, education and case management services for formerly incarcerated people through programs that have a proven track record, according to the department.

The Workforce Reentry Act would also strengthen the grant program by adding more direction and oversight of the grantees, Cornyn said.

The senator said he also wants to see bonus payments awarded to programs that successfully expand capacity.

A living wage and career path

Angela King, president and CEO of Volunteers of America Texas, said it can be a challenge for people leaving prison to find jobs they’re qualified for.

“About 60% of the 1,500 people a year [who] come through our federal halfway house are moving into employment, but oftentimes they lack skills that are going to get them into a job that provides a living wage and career path,” King said.

Program participants can get a leg up in the job market by adding credentials for high-demand skills and jobs to their resumes, King said.

Former gang leader Antong Lucky grew up in southeast Dallas’ Mill City, where residents have been fighting for public safety reform for decades.

“Reentry is a public safety issue,” said Lucky, who is formerly incarcerated and advocates for policy and program solutions.

Lucky is now president and CEO of Urban Specialists, a nonprofit aimed at keeping kids out of urban violence.

The nonprofit focuses on public safety efforts in southern Dallas, including mentoring incarcerated men and supporting children whose parents are in prison.

“I’m happy to hear us have this conversation because I understand, as a returning citizen, how critical it is for organizations that have those resources for individuals coming out with a one-stop shop so that they can have success,” Lucky said.