Join WestEd expert Sterling Smith at the 2026 Correctional Education Association (CEA) Forum, May 3–5, 2026, in Baltimore, Maryland.
The CEA Forum convenes professionals dedicated to advancing education within correctional settings. The event brings together educators, administrators, policymakers, and others from across the country to share best practices, explore innovative strategies, and strengthen the impact of correctional education.
Learn about our session below. Follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook and share your insights from the conference.
WestEd Presentation
Meeting the Market: Preparing Students Who Are Incarcerated for In-Demand Careers
Presenter: Sterling Smith
To what extent do vocational or career training programs prepare students who are incarcerated for employment aligned with labor market demand? How do programs incorporate emerging technology? What, if any, opportunities for alignment exist? WestEd partnered with the Connecticut Department of Correction to answer these questions for their Vocational Village program.
During this session, you will learn how our team paired traditional labor market insights with interviews with over a dozen employers, workforce boards, state agencies, and community-based organizations to dive into these questions. We will walk you through a step-by-step process of how we identify top industries in a state or region, produce employment projections aligned to existing training programs, and identify additional programs to explore. Finally, we will facilitate a group discussion for attendees to learn from their peers on how vocational training programs fit within a broader continuum of education, training, and reentry services within correctional systems.