NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The Davidson County Sheriff's Office has received an education grant from the state for $800,000. It came from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce.
The grant will be used to improve the lives of inmates with resources to help them after release. It's going to give inmates the ability to continue their education while incarcerated, which in turn will give them confidence they can succeed once they're out.
The money will span the course of four years and will fund positions for those who are working inside the jail and teaching inmates. Sheriff Daron Hall said the money will also provide them with laptops, virtual courses, and other tools needed to educate inmates.
He said they're spent years building a foundation of helping inmates be better upon release than when they first came to jail and that many have never accomplished any goal, or had any belief they could.
The grant money will build on that ensuring they have a high school equivalency diploma and other technological and vocational skills.
Currently, around 350 inmates are part of their education courses. The Sheriff hopes to double that with the help of this grant.
