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Progetti Inglese

#RipartoDaMe, Bollate

#Ripartodame (#Restartfromme) is a project conceived to give a second opportunity to people convicted, in the area of Milan, training them and giving them a job in a company outside prison.

#RipartoDaMe1

The Path We Followed – Achievements

People under detention are not always able to follow a path leading to job placement during their conviction. Sometimes they take part in short apprenticeships organised by cooperatives that work inside prison walls. Once released, they come into contact with a work environment that struggles to accept them and that is difficult for them to adapt to. Thus, oftentimes without a dignified occupation and positive relationships to make their time and conduct meaningful, there is a greater risk of them relapsing into crime.

#Ripartodame was created to respond to this need. The response it generates starts from the assumption that, to solve the issue, convicts need a better chance of job placement. This implies both investing in their training and giving them chances to re-enter the world of work in a stable way.

Country: Italia
Starting year: 2017
Location: Bollate, Lombardia
Status: Ongoing

The first edition of the project, promoted by the detention centre of Bollate, by the Riva Foundation, By the Adecco Foundation and by the CESEN study centre of the Cattolica University, supported 14 people under detention with different activities:

  • Classroom training on transversal skills;
  • Individual and group work orientation;
  • Raising awareness in corporations;
  • Support of active search for work;
  • Job placement in firms;
  • Assessment of impact and communication of achievements to stakeholders.

Results Achieved and Lessons Learnt

Of the 14 convicts who adhered and were selected for the project:

  • Everyone took part in the work education path;
  • 11 of them took part in job interviews with companies or social cooperatives;
  • 8 of them were given apprenticeship contracts;
  • 7 signed full time work contracts at the conclusion of the path undertaken;
  • Furthermore, a first group of companies aware of the issue, and willing to fully commit to solve it, was formed and consolidated.

Good results then, but with ample room for improvement. During this first edition we indeed ran into difficulties that deepened our knowledge of the problem. Including issues like:

  • Insufficient professional training of convicts: many companies asked to train convicts not only on transversal skills, but also on specific technical skills required in their industries;
  • A thoroughly tangled process for obtaining permission to leave prison;
  • Procedures and selection criteria not sufficiently shared or endorsed by the partners in the project.

These findings now constitute a wealth of knowledge to capitalise upon in the second edition.

#RipartoDaMe2

Extending Partnerships

The objective and intervention strategy tested in the first pilot phase have not changed in the second edition of the project, which was started in 2022. However we were aware that extending it to other parties would greatly help in capitalising on the lessons learnt during the first edition.

This is why this second iteration of the project was also joined by:

  • Enaip Foundation, in charge of the professional training of convicts;
  • Centre for Mediation at Work of the City of Milan (CELAV), responsible for educational monitoring of the apprenticeships of part of the convicts and for funding the corresponding work grants;
  • Cooperativa Articolo 3, responsible for favouring the sharing of selection criteria amongst all parties and staff and for facilitating the obtainment of exit permits for convicts;
  • Eagle Foundation, which will support the project with both funding and with giving access to its network of connections with the corporate world, in search of internships for participants.
  • The project will also be co-funded by the Milan Community Foundation, Filantropia Attiva Italiana and the Foundation Antonietto Rancilio.

Thus, a diverse network of partnerships including public and private bodies with complementary abilities has grown: an openly stated ambition of the project is indeed to create a collaboration model reproducible by other detention institutions in other networks and contexts.

Project Innovations

5 main innovations in #Ripartodame2:

  • Inclusion in a path of professional training, alongside with activities for developing transversal skills;
  • Greater sharing and transparency on criteria adopted and selection process;
  • Inclusion of a partner, Cooperativa Articolo 3, for smoothing the process of obtaining exit permits from inside the prison;
  • Involvement of more people under detention (30 people).