The Utah County Commission approved a resolution Wednesday to allow inmates at the Utah County Jail the opportunity to earn their food handlers permit.
The program, which County Commissioner Skyler Beltran called a “no-brainer,” is intended to provide a cleaner jail kitchen while equipping people with a skill that will reduce barriers to finding employment post-incarceration.
“Having that ability to come out with it (the food handler’s permit) already done makes it that much easier to find a job and be a lower barrier of entry into the business,” Beltran said. “It supports our local businesses as well because everybody needs restaurant workers, cashiers, fast food workers. Now we’re having these people leave ready to go. They could start the next day.”
Inmates prepare and package thousands of meals monthly for Meals on Wheels inside the jail kitchen and help jail cooks serve food to inmates and deputies each day.
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This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.
