Senator Myrie Visits First Ever Job Fair Held in a Correctional Facility

QUEENSBORO CORRECTIONAL FACILITY -- This month, Senator Zellnor Y. Myrie visited the Prison Job Fair held by the Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR). The fair gathered 12 employers with 78 men who are incarcerated for the first job fair ever held within a correctional facility in New York. 

“We say that prisons are for rehabilitation, but more often than not, they offer no such thing,” said Senator Myrie. “Rehabilitation should be part of every step of the justice system, and that’s what this job fair is about. This is an investment in people who have been incarcerated that will allow them to re-enter society successfully and be equipped to succeed.” 

An alumnus of Cornell’s Law School and a former instructor at the Auburn Correctional Facility, Senator Myrie worked tirelessly this spring to secure additional funding for re-entry services in the State Budget. The final budget agreement included $100,000 for re-entry services, some of which supported this month’s Prison Job Fair. 

More information on the job fair and the experience of participants can be found in the Cornell Chronicle article here. 

Photos from the event can be found at the Dropbox here. 

The job fair marked the first time employers were inside of a corrections facility conducting interviews and making job offers. It was launched as part of the Cornell School’s Criminal Justice and Employment Initiative. Since 2017, the program has trained hundreds of employers and incarcerated people across the state, helping them to overcome barriers to employment caused by incarceration. 

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Please direct inquiries to Senator Myrie’s Director of Communications, Jonathan Timm, at (313) 618-7005. jt.nysenate@gmail.com