Iowa Correction Facilities Begin to Offer Barbershop Apprenticeships

The Iowa Corrections Department started its barbering apprenticeship program in 2018 and has since seen seven graduates with a half-dozen other men training at prisons throughout the state. While correctional facilities have held similar programs for several years, Iowa barbershops are starting their own apprenticeship programs under a recent change in Iowa state law last year that now allows potential barbers to be paid while they learn from mentors through a state-approved model. On August 30th when the law was passed Board Executive Venus Vendoures Walsh said the board would now start to accept certified apprenticeships as a pathway to receiving a barbers license in Iowa.

“It takes a lot of guidance and teaching to get a person to go from A to Z. “Before we even get to cutting hair, you have to go through laws and rules in regards to sanitation. Then there’s nerves, muscles, and arteries (as well as learning) the history of barbering.”

Marc Nalls, Owner of Clippernomics Academy of Hairstyling

The state Corrections Department’s barbering apprenticeship requires participants to complete 2,000 hours of on-the-job training as well as several months of bookwork that includes 12 written tests. All prison apprenticeships that have been certified with the U.S. Department of Labor, are connected to occupations wanted within the correction system. The state’s credential exam is a two-hour proctored test that includes doing haircuts with scissors, clippers, and a straightedge razor as well as highlighting and perming a mannequin’s hair. To enhance the program’s curriculum the Corrections Department is also working to bring in already seasoned barbers to the prisons to help with hands-on skills and to share business expertise. The program is expected to span 12 to 14 months as they observe licensed barbers and eventually perform their own services, including cuts and facials. In the beginning, participants will make an hourly wage that can later increase based on commission.

Read full article here: https://www.thegazette.com/state-government/started-in-prison-iowa-barbershops-begin-offering-apprenticeships/