Overview
- The Milwaukee County Sheriff's Department has started the I.G.N.I.T.E. program inside the county jail to offer inmates classroom education, GED and high-school diploma access, job skills and life-skills training.
- Program enrollment is open to any inmate who chooses to participate and the jail will work with Milwaukee Public Schools and local colleges and universities to deliver diplomas, GED instruction and coursework.
- Officials cited a Wisconsin Department of Corrections report showing roughly a 53% rearrest rate and a 37% reconviction rate in the county as the immediate reason for launching the program.
- The launch is a soft, early phase built from about three years of planning and collaboration with sites in Virginia and North Carolina, and Milwaukee now joins more than 30 U.S. counties running I.G.N.I.T.E.
- Officials say measurable outcomes are not yet available and the program's impact on recidivism will depend on enrollment, partner services and later data tracking, which will be the key measures to watch.