A preapprenticeship program primarily aimed at creating employment opportunities for those who have been incarcerated is set to graduate its 48th cohort this month.

The Inland Northwest Associated General Contractors’ Head Start to the Construction Trades program introduces participants to various trades, teaches life and employability skills, and acts as a gateway into apprenticeship programs.

“It takes individuals who might be unskilled or under-skilled and introduces them to the construction trades,” says Mike Ankney, apprenticeship director at Inland Northwest AGC.

While about 75% of the Washington state-recognized preapprenticeship program’s participants have previously been incarcerated or dealt with legal repercussions, it is also open to others who are hoping to improve their lives by pursuing a career in the construction industry, Ankney explains.

The Head Start program started as a pilot class in 2015 and operates year-round at the Salem Lutheran Church, at 1428 W. Broadway, just west of the Spokane County Courthouse.

The current cohort will graduate Oct. 19.

“We’ve had some great results,” Ankney says. “We probably have a 65%, 70% employment rate.”

He estimates that the program has served around 700 people and adds that the participants’ rate of recidivism is less than 5%.

“These people want to change their lives. They understand that they’ve made their mistakes. They’ve done their time,” Ankney says. “The big thing that they need is some good employment.”

Participants of the free six-week program are taught financial literacy, resume writing, math skills, tool skills, and power-tool safety. They also receive an Occupational Safety and Health Administration 10-hour safety class certification, become certified as construction flaggers, and are taught introductory heavy-equipment operating skills.

“Along with that, they’ll use some of our membership to do a job site tour, so they can actually go out on a construction site and just see how the job functions,” says Ankney.

Past job site tours include the North Spokane Corridor, ONE Spokane Stadium, The Podium Powered by STCU, and the Post Street Bridge.

Participants also tour and learn about apprenticeship training programs, including programs for laborers, ironworkers, sheet metal workers, insulators, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, and more.

Even though the program focuses on construction, the life and employability skills are applicable to any industry, Ankney says.

“When they complete our class, I really don’t care where they go to work, as long as they go to work,” he says.

The idea for the program came from the late Judith Gilmore, a community leader who worked for the Fulcrum Institute of Spokane and helped create the Pre-Employment Preparation Program, a separate preapprenticeship program intended to help those facing barriers to employment.

“She came to the AGC to help get it off the ground,” Ankney says.

In addition to improving the lives of its participants, the Head Start program also brings more workers into an industry that Ankney says is facing a labor shortage.

“The construction industry, like every other industry in town, is severely lacking people,” Ankney says.

Funding for the program comes from a variety of sources. It received a grant from the city that came from American Rescue Plan Act funds in 2022.

That grant, which is set to expire at the end of the year, allowed the Inland Northwest AGC to begin offering stipends of $100 a week to participants, who are required to attend classes Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“Once we started offering the stipends, our class sizes started growing, and now we’re averaging 15, 16 a class,” Ankney says.

He adds that the class now has a waiting list.

A stipulation of the city’s ARPA grant requires reserving five spots per cohort for people who were previously incarcerated—a number that the program had no issue exceeding.

The program has also received funding from Spokane County, although that grant also is set to expire this year.

Despite the expiring grants, Ankney is optimistic the program will receive funding and continue operating. He is seeking more funding from the city and county, as well as from other potential sources.

The program is a feeder into apprenticeship programs, which are earn-while-you-learn opportunities, Ankney explains. He says there’s nearly 200 different apprenticeship programs in Washington, ranging from construction to culinary to cosmetology.

“Most apprenticeships are three to five years long, and when you graduate, you get your journey card, and that makes you a master of the trade, so to speak,” says Ankney. “You’re able to work anywhere, whether you want to be union or nonunion. You’re just able to stay employed.”

The city of Spokane and many AGC member contractors are among the organizations that have employed graduates of the Head Start program.

“You don’t have to be an AGC member to employ our people,” Ankney says. “The more employer opportunities out there, the better for our students.”

Ankney says he often acts as a job reference for graduates of the program and is able to tell prospective employers that these individuals have shown up on time every day for six weeks, asked questions, and stayed engaged.

“Not everybody who graduates our class is going to go out and be a rock star. We know that,” Ankney says. “But at least we have some type of process in place that we know a little bit about the person. Maybe they have a little bit more of a success rate.”

While apprenticeship programs typically require people to pass drug tests, the Head Start program does not, but Ankney says its participants are often staying at halfway houses or have other forms of supervision that require them to pass regular drug screens.

“What we say on day one is ‘I don’t care if you can pass a drug test today. But if you can’t pass in six weeks, you’re wasting your time,’” Ankney says.

He says the rate of recidivism being under 5% is proof of the program’s participants’ motivation to stay on the right path.

Graduates of the program tend to be very loyal to the employers that give them a chance, Ankney adds.

“We are an industry that believes in second chances,” Ankney says. “We believe in third chances.”

The benefits of the program reach further than the individuals and the construction industry. It also helps support the community.

“We have people who have taken our training and got their journey cards. They’re out buying houses, they’re out buying vehicles, they have a disposable income where they can go to our restaurants and go see movies, make purchases in town,” Ankney says.

Because of its success over the past nine years, AGC plans to expand the Head Start program to other locations across the state.

A pilot class of the program was offered in Bellingham this year, and AGC plans to do a class in the Tri-Cities in 2025.

“There’s a construction job on every side of every city,” Ankney says.