Emphasis on active employment policies, which give the unemployed opportunities for work, without exclusion, has been given by the Public Employment Service (DYPA), in recent years.

In this context, DYPA plans and implements actions aimed at the fastest possible reintegration into the labor market of the unemployed who face the greatest obstacles to employment.

“In addition to flagship employment programs, which subsidize the creation of new jobs to hire unemployed people from vulnerable social groups (independent, released from prison, single-parent families, victims of domestic or gender-based violence, transgender persons and victims of human trafficking), DYPA also invests in counseling , but also in professional training.

Special emphasis was given to the training sector, with resources from the Recovery Fund and the NSRF and with conditions that ensure the effective upgrading of the skills of all citizens and offer equal access.

Through the strengthening and reform of the institutional framework of continuing vocational training, carried out last year (Law 4921/2022 “Jobs again”), but also by upgrading the role of Vocational Training Institutes (VET) and Vocational Training Centers (VET), that operate all over Greece, hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens have been given the opportunity to acquire and upgrade their skills” states the commander of DYPA, Spyros Protopsaltis, speaking to APE-MPE.

Educational programs for prisoners

This planning could not lack care to strengthen the employability of vulnerable and special groups of the population, which are threatened with exclusion from the labor market. In this context, DYPA cooperates with the General Secretariat of Anti-Criminal Policy of the Ministry of Citizen Protection and implements special educational programs for prisoners, with the aim of preparing them for their social and work reintegration.

The programs are implemented through the KEK of DYPA and have been carried out at the Eleonas detention centers in Thiba, Malandrino, Corfu, Ioannina, Domokos, Amfissa, Trikala and Chania. Corresponding programs have been planned for this year in the booking offices of Thessaloniki, Patras and Tiryns. The total duration of each program ranges from 250 to 380 hours, depending on the specialty.

The specific training programs of DYPA respond to the needs of local economies, as they concern specialties that are in great demand from businesses.

The specialties are, for example: hairdressing, building maintenance, culinary art-pastry, cutting-sewing, plasterboards-techniques- oil painting and face and body hygiene care.

The actions provide participating male and female prisoners with the necessary knowledge and skills in the respective subjects, with parallel counseling for job search, for writing a correct CV and support for interviews with potential employers, as well as entrepreneurship counseling for writing sustainable business plans .

In addition, the study programs include a special thematic section regarding the current rules of hygiene and safety in the workplace, in accordance with the conditions in force in the European Union. The training programs support and strengthen the adoption of professional conscience and behavior.

In the last 3.5 years, DYPA has implemented 16 programs in the detention centers of Eleonas, Thebes, Malandrinos, Corfu, Ioannina, Trikala and Chania, with the participation of more than 260 prisoners.

It is worth noting that, through the programs of DYPA, even more prisoners would have been trained, however, from the second half of 2019 and for the whole of 2020, the programming was canceled due to the pandemic.

At the moment, prisoner training programs are underway in five detention centers throughout Greece (Elaion of Thebes, Domokos, Amfissa, Chania and Trikala), through which more than 100 prisoners are being trained in the specialties of culinary art-pastry, plasterboard-crafts- oil painting, hairdressing and building maintenance.

For the next period of time, corresponding programs have been included in the planning of DYPA in detention centers throughout Greece, where it is estimated that more than 300 prisoners will participate.

In addition to training and upskilling prisoners, DYPA has designed employment programs that give businesses strong incentives to hire ex-prisoners, with a 75% wage subsidy for 24 months. Released persons have been included in the new business grant program for the employment of unemployed people belonging to special and vulnerable social groups, in order to strengthen and address their risk of social exclusion.

In addition, in order to increase their recruitment opportunities, the required length of time served in prison, which is a condition for joining the program, was reduced from 6 to 2 months. So far, a total of 142 recruitments of released prisoners have been carried out through the programs of DYPA.

According to Mr. Protopsaltis, the fundamental goal of DYPA is to support all citizens, without exclusion. “In this context, we are working with the General Secretariat of Anti-Criminal Policy of the Ministry of Citizen Protection to develop training programs for prisoners in detention centers throughout the country. Our purpose is to give perspective to male and female prisoners, to contribute to limiting prejudices and overturning stereotypes. With the training programs in the prisons, on the one hand, we empower the prisoners, so that they can reintegrate into society and the labor market, after their release, on the other hand, we strengthen the culture of equal opportunities in the workplace” notes Mr. Protopsaltis.

For his part, the General Secretary of Anti-Crime Policy of the Ministry of Citizen Protection, Konstantinos Papathanasiou, underlines: “The General Secretariat of Anti-Crime Policy, in close cooperation with the Public Employment Service (DYPA), organizes programs and implements actions for creative employment and training of prisoners, in the context of post-prison care and vocational rehabilitation of prisoners and released prisoners. The actions are of an educational and cultural nature, with which prisoners and released persons are informed about their employment rights, about the allowances and financial assistance they are entitled to, about the current subsidized training and work experience programs and about the existing supply and demand of work , in cooperation with the Public Employment Service (DYPA) and other competent bodies. The ultimate goal of this collaboration is the effective promotion of the employment of adult and juvenile prisoners, in order to achieve their placement in jobs with parallel preparation and support for their smooth reintegration into society. In order to promote our cooperation, a memorandum of cooperation has already been signed with DYPA”.