Project Tests New Approaches to Employability for Justice-Impacted Learners

Project with Missouri Department of Corrections and the Formerly Incarcerated College Graduate Network highlights opportunities—and challenges—in preparing justice-impacted learners for long-term careers.

ST. HELENA, Calif., March 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- QA Commons is sharing early insights from an innovative project exploring how employability skills can be embedded within postsecondary education programs serving incarcerated and formerly incarcerated learners. Funded by Ascendium Education Group, the initiative brought together QA Commons, the Missouri Department of Corrections (MDOC), and the Formerly Incarcerated College Graduates Network (FICGN) to test new approaches to career preparation and educational continuity for justice-impacted individuals.

The project examined how QA Commons' Framework for Employability and Essential Employability Qualities (EEQs), a model used by colleges and training programs nationwide, could be adapted for correctional education and reentry contexts. The initiative combined instructor professional development, program-level employability certification, student skill badging, and success coaching for individuals preparing to reenter society, while also generating insights into postsecondary pathway development in correctional and reentry contexts.

"Across the country, education programs inside prisons are focused on technical training and degree attainment," said Michelle Deasy, Executive Director of QA Commons. "This project explored a complementary question: how do we help learners understand and demonstrate the professional capabilities—communication, initiative, teamwork, adaptability—that ultimately determine long-term career success?"

The project worked directly with Career and Technical Education (CTE) instructors across Missouri correctional facilities, providing a six-week training program to help instructors intentionally embed employability skill development into existing vocational curricula such as culinary arts, business technology, customer service, and horticulture.

Several participating programs underwent QA Commons' Essential Employability Qualities Certification (EEQ CERT) process, which evaluates how effectively programs develop capabilities such as communication, critical thinking, teamwork, professionalism, and digital literacy. Evaluators found that many correctional CTE programs stood out not only for their emphasis on professionalism, but for their creativity and ingenuity—using approaches such as culturally grounded culinary projects and simulated service environments to create meaningful, real-world learning experiences.

At the same time, the project surfaced significant structural barriers. Limited access to technology, institutional constraints and requirements, and the complexity of the reentry process created major challenges to implementing digital credentialing, sustained coaching relationships, and postsecondary pathway development.

One of the project's most promising components was a success coaching program developed in partnership with the Formerly Incarcerated College Graduates Network. The initiative trained justice-impacted leaders to provide coaching and support to individuals preparing for release, helping them navigate the transition to education and employment. Project leaders found that the coaching cohort participants were among the most thoughtful and capable groups they had worked with—demonstrating exceptional employability qualities such as reflection, adaptability, and leadership. Their performance not only highlights their effectiveness as coaches and mentors but also underscores the broader potential of justice-impacted professionals to contribute meaningfully in workplace settings, despite their frequent exclusion due to bias and hiring practices.

Importantly, these findings were not limited to the coaching cohort. The project more broadly challenged common assumptions about employability among incarcerated individuals. Researchers found that daily life in highly structured prison environments often fosters valuable workplace-relevant skills—such as responsibility, teamwork, and problem-solving—that are rarely recognized or reflected in career narratives.

"These findings suggest an opportunity to shift the conversation," Deasy added. "Instead of focusing only on barriers to reentry, we should also ask: what are the barriers to advancement, leadership, and long-term career growth for justice-impacted individuals?"

QA Commons will build on these insights as part of its broader work across colleges, universities, workforce organizations, and K–12 systems focused on employability. While this project focused on justice-impacted learners, the findings echo patterns we are seeing across a wide range of contexts—often in unexpected ways—highlighting shared challenges in how capabilities are developed, recognized, and connected to opportunity. These cross-cutting insights will continue to shape QA Commons' work, contributing to a broader effort to better understand and advance employability across education and workforce systems.

Media Release: Michelle Deasy, [email protected]

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SOURCE QA Commons