Some of the NMTech graduates of the Department of Corrections outreach program pose with their certificates with, from left, instructor Wendel Posadas, Corrections Commissioner Anthony Torres, Gov. Arnold Palacios, Northern Marianas Technical Institute Chief Executive Officer Jodina Attao, and Lt. Jeff Quitugua, far right.
TEN inmates who are members of the Department of Corrections outreach program received their National Center for Construction Education and Research certificates from the Northern Marianas Technical Institute after completing the electrical level-2 course.
On Thursday, Dec. 21, a ceremony was conducted at the Department of Corrections outreach center on Capital Hill attended by the participants, their families, corrections staff, and Gov. Arnold I. Palacios.
Corrections Commissioner Anthony Torres said inmates who completed the course are part of a program that allows them to repair or clean government properties.
To obtain certification, they must complete NMTech’s 85-hour construction course and learn basic construction safety, construction drawings, materials handling and more.
After completing the course, they will move on to the electrical level-1 instruction, and then to the electrical level-2 course.
These courses are in addition to the on-the-job experience they will gain when maintaining government facilities, according to one of the graduates, Jodan Taitingfong.
“We’re welders, mechanics, electricians, carpenters, renovators, and farmers, mostly from hands-on experience,” Taitingfong said in his remarks. “When it’s time to put in work we come together to get the job done.”
Torres said the inmates also receive anger management and other types of counseling.
“This program gives us opportunities that don’t usually come around because of our current situation,” Taitingfong said. “It equips us with tools so we can help the community, but most importantly, give back to our family. The outreach program helps inmates have a more responsible and positive mindset, but it only works if you take it seriously.”
Wendell Posadas, the course instructor, said he was privileged to share his knowledge, adding that trades instruction could help support inmates once they leave the Department of Corrections.
“I’m proud [of] these guys. They really need support from the community and instructors…. We need to support them so when they come out, they’ll have a good chance of getting their life back,” Posadas said.
Torres said not just any inmate is allowed to participate in the program. To qualify, an inmate must demonstrate “clean conduct” inside the corrections facility and have “no behavioral issues.”
They also have to work on projects inside the corrections facility before they can be interviewed to take part in the outreach program.
Asked if his proposal to transfer Guam inmates to the CNMI as part of a revenue-generating opportunity could help support the outreach program, Torres said, “Absolutely. “We can expand it and other evidence-based programs.”
Ten members of the Department of Corrections outreach program on Thursday received their National Center for Construction Educations and Research certificates from the Northern Marianas Technical Institute after completing the electrical-level 2 course.
