The data says
hire them.

The DOL RAPIDS Public Use File records each registered apprentice's incarceration status at program entry via the INMATE_IND field. Of 5.3 million individual records, 16,000+ were marked as justice-involved at registration.

When you compute completion rates for those apprentices against the general population in the same trades, here is what you get:

The most common explanation for why justice-involved apprentices complete at higher rates in carpentry is selection and motivation. A person navigating the paperwork, background check, and social navigation required to enter a union apprenticeship program while carrying a record is not a casual applicant. They want this.

Carpentry apprenticeship programs have historically had more intentional Second Chance recruiting than electrical programs. The United Brotherhood of Carpenters has been more active in prison pre-apprenticeship than IBEW. Programs that recruit specifically from justice-involved populations tend to have stronger support structures — peer mentors, housing resources, transportation assistance — that happen to benefit completion generally.

The electrician gap (33.2% vs. 43.8%) likely reflects more selective IBEW programs that have higher baseline completion rates and fewer justice-involved-specific support systems, not a difference in the workers themselves.

Pre-apprenticeship programs operating inside correctional facilities exist. They are underfunded, inconsistently implemented, and almost entirely invisible to people on the outside who are trying to plan for release. Here is what is actually running:

Here is what does not exist anywhere at scale: a structured pipeline that connects incarcerated people to a specific JATC with a confirmed placement, starting pre-apprenticeship coursework inside the facility 12-18 months before release.

The model that works — and has been demonstrated in isolated programs — looks like this:

The 2012 EEOC guidance on criminal background checks in employment makes categorical exclusion of all applicants with any prior conviction legally risky for most employers and registered apprenticeship programs. Programs receiving federal funding have additional restrictions on categorical exclusion.

What is required: individualized assessment — looking at the nature of the offense, time elapsed, evidence of rehabilitation, and the specific requirements of the apprenticeship position. A conviction for property crime ten years ago is not a legitimate bar to an electrical apprenticeship. A recent conviction for wire fraud in a commercial setting might be more complicated.

The practical reality: IBEW and UA locals vary enormously in how they apply background check policies. Some locals are effectively open to justice-involved applicants. Others use background check results to screen without formal policy to do so, which is the legally risky approach. Many locals have no written policy at all.