About PROFITT

The Alternative Media Access Center (AMAC), a unit of Georgia Tech's Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2) that provides textbook support services for persons with disabilities, received a grant authorized by the Second Chance Act from the U.S. Department of Justice/Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). This grant is in support of an innovative, prison-based technology training program. Partners include the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and the National Braille Press.

The project will modify the existing and proven NBP and TDCJ braille training curriculums to better serve the needs of offenders slated for impending release and return to the workforce. What makes this training unique is an added focus on the generation of computerized graphics, providing high-demand, transferable software skills that prepare offenders for gainful employment upon release. PROFITT participants will also benefit from specialized small business management and employment skills training and post-release placement support assistance tailored to the needs of transitioning offenders.

"As a result of the peer review process, AMAC scored very highly on the application for this grant, and we felt that their emphasis on braille technology was cutting-edge," noted Dr. Gary L. Dennis, BJA senior policy advisor for corrections. "Ex-offenders can utilize this training to develop entrepreneurial skills that will better position them to engage in meaningful employment when they are released from prison."

The purpose of the PROFITT project is to produce a blueprint for use by any correctional facility interested in implementing a comprehensive, competency-based braille training curriculum geared toward long-term, sustainable income upon release. The project will reduce recidivism by providing participants with professional and transferable technological skills that have multiple workplace applications and the soft skills and small business skills needed to utilize them proficiently. It is our hope that our newly-developed, competency-based braille and graphics training curriculum will be disseminated nationwide.