RIDGEVILLE S.C. Aug. 10, 2026 — The first group of inmates at MacDougall Correctional Institution just completed a life skills and vocational training program delivered through a partnership between Trident Technical College and Turn90.
Over several years South Carolina based Turn90 has developed a model to deliver cognitive behavioral skills, support services, employment and peer support to incarcerated men as they prepare to leave prison in an effort reduce recidivism and break the incarceration cycle.
The organization has worked in the Charleston, Columbia and Greenville/Spartanburg areas. In expanding to MacDougall Turn90 teamed up with TTC’s Continuing Education division to provide instruction in the vocational training aspect of the program.
“We wanted the vocational piece to help them get jobs after getting out,” Trun90 Pre-release Coordinator Kat Norsworthy said. “It rounds out the rest of the programming, helps bolster their resume and get a foot in the door. This will be a TTC certificate to put on their resume, so their past and rap sheet doesn’t speak for them, they can speak for themselves.”
The 15 men in the initial Turn90 cohort at MacDougall, who all had 12-18 months left on their sentences when the program began, worked their way through the 4-pronged program during weekly class meetings from January-June. Units of study included Financial Literacy and Job Readiness, Digital Literacy and Public Speaking, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and a National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) certified Core Construction class.
While the job skills the men learned from the construction class are vital to them being able to secure a job, the soft skills are equally important, according to Norsworthy.
“Digital and Financial Literacy are just life skills,” she said. “Some guys have been in 15-plus years, so life has changed a lot.”
Launching the program at MacDougall has been a collaborative effort among the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC), the staff at MacDougall, Turn90 and Trident Tech.
"The work being done in this partnership is so important to the safety and success of these inmates and the community," SCDC Director Joel Anderson said. "These dedicated employees and volunteers have provided a real second chance for these inmates and their families."
“It has been a real team effort,” Norsworthy said. “A team from a lot of different areas all came together, it was a lot of us sharing ideas and coming back with solutions.”
In addition to the charitable funds Turn90 raises for its program, the vocational training provided by Trident qualified for state approved workforce development funding, which helped make the whole thing possible.