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Lisa Smith was recently divorced and raising three children while working part-time as a school paraprofessional for $7.50 per hour. She had not held a full-time job since 1996.

Lisa walked into the Southgate SEMCA Michigan Works! Service Center after having been conditionally hired by The State of Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) as a Corrections Officer. She did not have any spare funds to pay for the Training Academy and was in danger of losing this career opportunity. After successful completion of the first six weeks of training, she would be offered a position with the MDOC and then finish the last two weeks of the academy as a paid Michigan Department of Corrections employee. Still, she did not have an extra $4,000 to pay for the training.

She was quickly registered into WIA as a Dislocated Worker/Displaced Homemaker and started toward her goal.

Able to demonstrate that the occupation of Correction Officer was in high-demand, and having a pre-hire letter, the Jackson College Corrections Officer Training Academy at Jackson Community College was approved for Lisa by SEMCA. The tuition was paid and Lisa started the academy on September 15, 2014. She completed training and started as a Corrections Officer at the Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Ypsilanti as a State of Michigan employee in December of 2014 making $15.62 per hour.