REFORM Alliance is expanding its Pennsylvania work beyond probation-policy advocacy with a workforce initiative in Lancaster aimed at young adults navigating, or recently finished with, community supervision. The new program, called REFORM Work Matters, combines short-term training, transportation support, weekly stipends and a route toward potential jobs in the union building trades.

The initiative is a partnership between REFORM Alliance, Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology and the Lancaster County Workforce Development Board. It is expected to serve 70 people ages 18 through 24 who are on probation or parole, or who have recently completed supervision.

Its structure matters. Programs that point people toward work without addressing the immediate mechanics of getting to class, staying afloat while training or meeting employer expectations can leave major obstacles intact. REFORM Work Matters is designed around those practical pressures: participants receive free instruction through a 10-week apprenticeship-readiness course, a $250 weekly stipend and Uber transportation to and from training.

The objective after completion is to connect graduates with employment opportunities in union building trades. That is an intended pathway rather than a guarantee of placement, but it puts the program’s focus squarely on preparation for skilled-trades employment.

What the Lancaster program includes

The training is delivered through Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster. Its curriculum covers construction math, blueprint reading, workplace safety and job readiness, along with preparation for an OSHA 10 certification.

Those subjects are closely tied to the entry point of a construction-career pipeline. Construction math refers to the measurement and calculation skills used in trade settings. Blueprint reading is the ability to interpret technical drawings that communicate a project’s dimensions, layout and specifications. Neither is merely a classroom exercise when the eventual goal is a building-trades job: both help establish the basic shared language of a worksite.

OSHA 10 is a safety-training credential participants will be prepared to pursue through the course. In this context, the emphasis is on giving learners a recognized foundation in workplace safety before seeking trade-related opportunities. Job readiness rounds out the package by addressing the transition from training into employment.

The program is free to participants, while the stipend provides $250 per week during the 10-week training period. That works out to up to $2,500 across a full 10-week program, assuming participation across the entire period. The transportation provision is equally concrete: free Uber rides remove a commuting expense and logistical problem that can otherwise disrupt attendance.

These details distinguish a career pathway from a simple referral. A referral tells someone where an opportunity may exist. A pathway builds several of the supports needed to reach it: training, an income bridge, transport and a prospective employer connection.

Federal funding and local delivery

REFORM Work Matters is backed by $518,000 in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Labor through Pennsylvania’s RESTART initiative. The award went to the Lancaster County Workforce Development Board to create employment pathways for justice-involved young adults.

“Justice-involved” is a broad term commonly used here to describe the program’s eligible group: young adults with probation, parole or recently completed supervision in their background. The published eligibility details identify a specific age range and supervision status, rather than presenting the initiative as open to every job seeker.

The funding arrangement also illustrates the division of responsibilities. The Lancaster County Workforce Development Board holds the award. Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology provides the training environment. REFORM Alliance is a partner bringing its long-running focus on probation and parole reform into a workforce-focused local program.

For participants, the practical question is less about which institution handles which piece and more about whether the pieces operate together. The design says they should: the course supplies skills and preparation; the stipend offers support while learning; the rides address travel; and the stated end goal is an introduction to union building-trades employment opportunities.

How this connects to Pennsylvania probation reform

REFORM Alliance was co-founded by Jay-Z, Meek Mill, Michael Rubin, Robert Kraft and other leaders. In Pennsylvania, the organization has spent years advocating for changes to probation and parole systems.

That advocacy helped drive Pennsylvania Senate Bill 838, which became Act 44 after Gov. Josh Shapiro signed it on December 14, 2023. The measure had bipartisan backing in the state legislature.

Act 44 changed several parts of how probation is handled in the state. Among its provisions, it restricted incarceration for many technical violations, required more individualized probation conditions and created paths toward earlier termination of supervision. It also established incentives connected to employment, education and vocational training.

A technical violation is a violation of a supervision rule rather than a new criminal offense. The distinction is important because Act 44’s reforms specifically address incarceration for many violations of that kind. Individualized conditions, meanwhile, means supervision requirements are intended to be tailored rather than treated as one uniform list for every person.

The law’s provisions did not all begin at once. Technical-violation reforms started in June 2024, while standardized probation review conferences began statewide in June 2025.

REFORM Work Matters is not itself a courtroom policy change, and the supplied details do not claim that it changes an individual’s legal status. Its connection to Act 44 is more practical: it creates a local service structure around employment and vocational preparation, areas that the law identifies as relevant to incentives and progress under supervision.

Why the program’s combined supports are notable

The most significant aspect of the Lancaster initiative may be its attempt to deal with several barriers at the same time. The course develops entry-level skills. The OSHA 10 preparation addresses a recognized safety-training target. The stipend can help reduce the financial strain of committing to a full training schedule. Transportation is provided rather than assumed. Finally, the program points toward union building-trades opportunities instead of treating completion of a class as the endpoint.

This is a useful shift in emphasis from the question of how a person exits supervision to the question of what makes stability more attainable while they are under supervision or after it ends. Employment preparation can be difficult to sustain when attendance has a cost, travel is uncertain and an unpaid course competes with immediate financial needs. The program’s stated package responds directly to those friction points.

It is also deliberately limited and measurable in scope. The target of 70 young adults makes this a focused Lancaster program, not a statewide entitlement. Its 10-week duration provides a defined pre-apprenticeship window rather than a long, open-ended course. And its outcome language is appropriately prospective: participants are being prepared and connected to opportunities, not promised a specific union job.

That clarity is worth preserving. The program’s value will depend on enrollment, completion, credential preparation and the employer connections available after training. Those results are not yet established by the program description. What is established is the framework: paid, transportation-supported pre-apprenticeship training for a defined group of young adults whose supervision status can complicate access to work.

What it could mean for participants

For an eligible young adult in Lancaster, the immediate offer is straightforward: ten weeks of free preparation in construction-related fundamentals, $250 per week during training, rides to and from class, and assistance aimed at creating a bridge to union building-trades employment opportunities.

For the policy conversation, the initiative offers an applied example of a broader principle behind recent Pennsylvania reforms. Reducing unnecessary incarceration for technical violations is one side of probation reform. Making employment, education and vocational training more reachable is another. REFORM Work Matters is built around that second side.

The project arrives as technology and workforce systems continue to shape how people prepare for employment; recent coverage of new workplace-oriented software tools is a reminder that job readiness can involve changing technical expectations. This Lancaster program, however, is centered on construction fundamentals, safety preparation and access to trade pathways rather than digital-skills training.

For REFORM Alliance, it represents a next-stage use of its Pennsylvania presence: pairing an organization known for criminal-justice reform advocacy with local education and workforce institutions. For Lancaster County, it is a federally funded effort to make a skilled-trades route more accessible to 70 young people at a critical transition point.