IN SP IRING PROGR AM


Laborers’ Program at Santa Rita Jail Offers Inmates a Second Chance for Success


BY CAROL EATON


S 12


ince 2024, more than 120 inmates at the Alameda County Santa Rita jail have gained hands-on con-


struction skills — and vastly improved their odds for successfully rejoining the workforce and becoming contributing members of society when they get out — thanks to a groundbreaking preap- prenticeship program by the Laborers Training & Retraining Trust Fund for Northern California. Te 12-week program, which is the first of its kind at the Dublin facility, represents a strong partnership between the Laborers and the Alameda County


CALIFORNIA CONSTRUCTOR JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026


Sheriff’s Department. Participants with no previous background or experience in construction have been trained and certified in multi-core craft curriculum (MC3) encompassing everything from OSHA 10, flag and traffic control, and scissor lift training to blueprint reading and hazardous waste removal.


Hands-On Learning While the classwork and instructional training sessions create the basic frame- work, it is the hands-on learning compo- nent that really sets this program apart. “Te key to this being such a successful


program is the hands-on learning that goes into it,” said Leonard Gonzales, ex- ecutive director of the Laborers Training & Retraining Trust Fund for Northern California. “At Santa Rita the warden and his team identify potential projects that they want done. We have been able to use those as opportunities to train par- ticipants and tie that into project-based learning as they apply their new skills.” A few of the projects completed as part


of the program include a small outbuild- ing, a wooden awning, and picnic tables for the prison yard. When they graduate, participants receive as many as 20 certi-


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