The CareerTech Skills Centers (CTSC) began operations in February of 1971 as the Inmate Training division of the Oklahoma Department of Vocational and Technical Education, now the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education.

In our thirty-seven years of serving incarcerated offenders in our state, we have evolved from a division with a few occupational training programs to a large school system with a multitude of programs and services for both adult and juvenile offenders. Our school system began at the Jim E. Hamilton CareerTech Skills Center inside the Jim E. Hamilton (formerly Ouachita) Correctional Center at Hodgen, Oklahoma. Today, the CTSC offers services in twelve state correctional facilities, three juvenile detention facilities, four community correctional facilities and one county detention center.

School-to-Work (STW) is the operational philosophy for the CTSC. A successful transition from school to the workplace can mean a life of success for ex-offenders. The Oklahoma STW system for students has numerous interconnected and integrated components, each being an integral part of preparing offenders for success in the workplace and in society.

The CTSC works in conjunction with the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (DOC) and Oklahoma Correctional Industries (OCI) to offer three U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training, registered apprenticeship programs for offenders. These programs are each three to four years in length and are in the areas of meat cutting, commercial food preparation, and cabinet building.

In 1996, the CTSC entered into an agreement with the Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs (OJA) to provide training to juvenile offenders detained in Oklahoma facilities. The CTSC and OJA have partnered with the Associated General Contractors (AGC). AGC has signed an agreement with the CTSC to provide program completers with a paid, worksite learning experience. AGC, through its member contractors, also assists the CTSC in development of appropriate curriculum and learning activities.

It is our intent to continue to evolve as business and industry changes. Our goal is to provide educational services that will cause our students to seek and find success in the workplace and in society.