Press Releases

LOWELL, MA – Today, Congresswoman Lori Trahan (MA-03) applauded the awarding of $750,000 in federal grant funding for UTEC, Inc., a Lowell-based agency that provides justice-involved young people with access to critical services to help set them up for long-term personal, professional, and economic success. The funding is being awarded by the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs.

“For more than 20 years, UTEC has provided vital services to our most underserved young adults in Lowell, Lawrence, and Haverhill. This funding will go a long way towards helping justice-involved young people reenter society, and it will assist them and their loved ones in getting back on their feet. UTEC has been leading the way on these efforts for a long time, which is why they have consistently been recognized nationwide as a model agency and why they're the perfect recipient for this award,” said Congresswoman Trahan.

"We are incredibly thankful for the support of Congresswoman Trahan in our work to reduce recidivism with justice-involved young adults,” said Gregg Croteau, CEO of UTEC. “In partnership with all our correctional facility partners, we have seen the continuum of services from incarceration through reentry to be essential for these young people's social and economic success. We are very thankful for this opportunity to expand our work empowering young people in correctional facilities and through their transition back to our communities."

The funding will be used to develop pre- and post-release programs through a partnership with a variety of correctional partners in Massachusetts. UTEC will also create specialized programming for at-risk young adults post-release. The programs will include educational, workforce development, transitional coaching, counseling, and family engagement.

The funding is being awarded through the Second Chance Act Community-Based Reentry Program, which awards grants to organizations that do any of the following: offer training on victim or offenders’ issues, provide services for reentry of offenders into their communities, or mentor offenders through incarceration.

Background:

In May 2020, Trahan penned a letter to the Office of Justice Programs to express strong support of UTEC’s application for the FY 2020 Second Chance Act Community-Based Reentry Program. Trahan recognizes the incredible work that UTEC is doing to help young adults in the Merrimack Valley reach their career goals.

The mission of UTEC is to discover and develop the ambition of disheartened young adults to exchange violence and poverty for success. They offer a wide variety of services to the young adults of Lowell, Lawrence, and Haverhill including civic engagement programs, gun violence prevention training, workforce development, and streetworker outreach. 

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