Jay-Z’s REFORM Alliance expanded its Pennsylvania mission with a Lancaster employment pathway giving justice-impacted young adults fresh career prospects.
Jay-Z’s REFORM Alliance is turning criminal justice reform into career opportunities in Lancaster Pennsylvania through a new workforce program designed to move young adults from supervision into skilled union jobs.
REFORM has teamed with Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology and the Lancaster County Workforce Development Board on REFORM Work Matters, an employment initiative expected to serve 70 young adults between 18 and 24 who are currently on probation or parole or recently completed supervision.
The effort is backed by $518,000 in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Labor through Pennsylvania’s RESTART initiative. The money was awarded to the Lancaster County Workforce Development Board to create employment pathways for justice-involved young adults.
Participants enter a free 10-week apprenticeship readiness program through Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster. The training includes construction math, blueprint reading, workplace safety, job readiness and preparation for an OSHA 10 certification.
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There is also money in participants’ pockets while they learn.
The program provides a $250 weekly stipend along with free Uber transportation to and from training. The ultimate objective is to connect graduates with employment opportunities in union building trades after completing the program.
The initiative represents another phase of REFORM’s work in Pennsylvania. The organization, co-founded by Jay-Z, Meek Mill, Michael Rubin, Robert Kraft and other leaders, has spent years advocating for changes to probation and parole systems.
That work helped push Pennsylvania Senate Bill 838, which became Act 44 after Gov. Josh Shapiro signed the legislation on Dec. 14, 2023. The measure received bipartisan support in the state legislature.
Act 44 changed how Pennsylvania handles probation by restricting incarceration for many technical violations, requiring more individualized probation conditions and establishing pathways toward earlier termination of supervision. The legislation also created incentives tied to employment, education and vocational training.
Major provisions took effect in stages, with technical violation reforms beginning in June 2024 and standardized probation review conferences launching statewide in June 2025.
REFORM Work Matters puts some of those ideas into practice outside the courtroom.
Instead of focusing exclusively on getting people off supervision, the Lancaster initiative addresses what happens next by putting training, transportation, income and potential employment within reach at the same time.