Shea Zwerver, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation & Natural Resources | Tyler Stevenson, Ohio DNR–Division of Forestry

1. Climbing Beyond Criminality
Correctional Conservation Collaborative
Arboriculture Vocational Reentry Program:
Building a Workforce Pipeline

2. Charge of Pennsylvania
“How do we grow
more good jobs
while conserving
and improving our
forests?”
PA Governor Tom Wolfe PA DCNR Secretary Cindy Dunn
…Well
…

3. 2. Develop more formal and
informal pipelines between
industry and institutions
…Let’s create
a group of
experts to
help answer
that
1. Broaden recruitment efforts
to attract people into forestry
careers

4. • 2.3 million behind bars,
6.6 million in total in U.S.,
2016 (PPI)
• 48,438 at PA SCIs
*~96,000 in total
as of Dec. 31, 2017
• Large populations of
mostly unskilled workers
State of Corrections

5. Recidivism $$$
~$42,700/year to house an
inmate at a PA SCI
~20,000 releases in 2017,
50% recidivate = 10,000
people back in prison
=$427 million
• Commitment to
reducing recidivism
• Reduce Corrections
spending

6. Correctional Education Reduces Recidivism
• Reduce recidivism
through correctional
education
• Budget constraints
• Lack of programming

7. Source: van der Linden, S. (2015). Green prison programmes, recidivism and mental health: A primer. Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 25, 338-342
Green Prison Programs

8. Industry Challenges & Needs
● Diversity and inclusion
● Retaining people
● Heightened awareness of profession among youth and
general population
● Arboriculture to be viewed as a career and skilled trade
● Clarity about requirements for entry into industry
● Garnering interest to do this type of work
● Promoting itself
● Build value towards trees and landscapes
Of the 524 respondents,
91% white, 78% male, median age: 52

9. Program objectives address industry needs
• Reduce recidivism by
getting reentrants into
careers with livable wages
• Providing employable skills
to inmates nearing release
• Educate those in the trade
industry on proper tree
care and tree preservation
Tree Trimmers & Pruners
Mean annual wage = $40,510
Mean hourly wage = $19.47

10. Industry
Arboriculture
Vocational
Reentry
Program
A Solution “a fabulous
example of
silo-breaking
in state
government.”
- Wolf
Administration

11. PA SCI Rockview’s Forestry Camp

13. Arborist Short Course
Benefits of Trees & Urban Forestry
Arboriculture as a Career
Tree Biology
Trees & Soil Relations
Water Management
Tree Nutrition & Fertilization
Tree Identification
Diagnosis and Identification or Tree Pests and
Diseases
Tree Pruning and ANSI standards
Tree Installation, Establishment and Preservation
Tree Worker Safety
Tree Cabling, Bracing and Lightning Protection
Tree Risk Assessment
Tree Selection
Tree Climbing

14. Rich Vrbonic
Bartlett Tree Experts
Arboriculture as a Career

15. Tree Biology
Julianne Schieffer
Penn State Extension

16. 2017 - Tree Identification - 2018
Celine Colbert
PA Bureau of Forestry

17. Kesha Braunskill
DE Urban Forestry Coordinator
Tree Selection

18. 2017 - Tree Selection - 2018

19. Tree
Climbing
School
Jim Savage
Penn State University & Extension

20. Tree Climbing School

21. 2017 - Tree Pruning - 2018

22. Biochar Making
Demo

23. Program Metrics

24. “Are you seriously interested in pursuing a career in
the tree care industry?”
“I enjoy being in the forest, I believe if I can work at something I love, I’ll be a happier,
more content person, less likely to return here.”
“Yes. High demand & Good income.”
“No. I like knowing about it but its not a
career for me.”
“Yes. As a welder I could fabricate posts or support systems for
falling branches, also I enjoy the outdoors and working with my
hands.”
“Yes. I prefer the outdoors to work and I cam now interested in trees
due to learning a lot on how they function and what they are used for.”

25. Build capacity among local governments
● Tree Tenders & Community
Work Programs to build
capacity among local
governments

26. Graham,
Lancaster
Graham
Lancaster, PA
Tree Care Industry
Greggory Clegg
Norfolk, VA
Asplundh, Lewis Tree
Service
Rich
Wilkes
Barre
Apex
Tree &
Earth
Mike
Scranton
area
Asplundh,
Logging
Co.
Chris
Harrisburg area
JB Tree Service
Anthony
Harrisburg area
Tree Care Industry

27. “…. You have given us a great opportunity that some may
never have. So I say Thank you. I have learned so much and I
will take what I’ve learned and use it the best I can.
Greggory
Clegg
“I’m a success story,” Clegg said. “I learned as much as I
could in there and I got out and I’m actually living a life off
what I’ve learned and actually raising a family with it, off
my earnings from it. I’m actually staying out of trouble.”

29. “The Arboriculture Program targets reducing recidivism
rates by providing an active healthy format, enabling
positive developments while deterring negative ones. It
educates inmates vocationally, reinforces communal
values and guides inmates into a positive mindset so that
they may thrive upon reentry, steering away from
criminal behaviors.”
Harry J Burak “…they placed me in RHU (Solitary
confinement) in the county jail
during a year long wait for trial.
RHU is an extremely damaging place
for an individual’s mind. During this
time the only thing I had was the ISA
article and the Rockview article
about meaningful jobs. I have clung
to the hope that one day I may make
it there. It just feels like such a
perfect fit, and I haven’t seen a
tree close or touched one in over a
year. It is a despairing feeling.”

32. They send you here for life, that’s exactly what they’re taking.
Reintegration/General Population Institution

36. 0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
TestScore
Student ID
Pre and Post Evaluations
Pre-Test Score Post-Test Score

38. Program Metrics
Rockview’s Forestry Camp
November 2017 to date
● 4 programs
Tree Tenders Training
Pruning Workshop
Community Work Program Day
Riparian Forest Buffer Training
● 1692 seat hours
● 52 inmates reached
32 released
● 12/52 = 23% seriously
interested in a career in the
industry
● 8 programs
Arborist Short Course (2)
Tree Climbing School (2)
Pesticide Applicator Short Course
Game of Logging
Pruning Workshop
Seed Workshop
● 2239 seat hours
● 50 inmates reached
24 released
● 4/33 =12% in Arborist Short Course
are in the industry
Huntingdon MODS
June 2018 to date

39. Barriers & Challenges
● Each SCI is different
● Statistics for job demand
● Restrictions re Certified Arborist credentialing
● Loss to other industries
● Businesses willing to hire and follow-through with
interviews
● Regional/local/seasonal demand
● Post-release challenges
● Building a reputation for the program among employers
● Sustainability of program & scaling up
● Measuring success rate of program
● Teaching methods

40. Future Outlook
● Continue Arboriculture Program at Forestry Camp
● Riparian Forest Buffer Vocational Training at SCI HUN
● Pesticide Applicator Certification
● Tree Seedling Program
● Job fairs at SCIs
● Riparian Buffer Vocational Training Program
● Expansion potential with findings from grant funding
● Replication in other states
● Scholarship fund for program graduates
● Partner with academic institutions to offer accreditation
● Develop a registered Apprenticeship and Pre-
Apprenticeship Program in PA

41. "Even our worst decisions don't separate us from
the circle of humanity and if we aren't willing to
understand the lives of those incarcerated then
we are doomed to keep on repeating the tragedy
of lives the ones those in prison lead."
-Wes Moore
Shea Zwerver
c-szwerver@pa.gov
Tyler Stevenson
Tyler.Stevenson@dnr.state.oh.us