Central Office - Industries, Education, & Vocational Training (IE&VT) Division

The Industries, Education, and Vocational Training (IE&VT) Division, overseen by Mary M. Mitchell, is responsible for education and vocational training programs within the Bureau of Prisons. Each Federal prison has its own education department that provides educational activities to Federal inmates. The Division manages literacy and occupational training programs, parenting programs, and Adult Continuing Education (ACE) activities, which are formal instructional classes designed to increase inmates' general knowledge in a wide variety of subjects, such as writing and math.

The Division oversees the agency's leisure-time programs, which are designed to help reduce inmate idleness and to teach inmates how to make effective use of free time. Keeping inmates constructively occupied is essential to the safety of correctional staff, inmates, and the surrounding community.

The Division provides oversight to the Inmate Transition Branch, which works to enhance the post-release employment of Federal prisoners, and to the Volunteer Management Program, which fosters citizen participation and staff and inmate volunteerism.

The Division also oversees Federal Prison Industries (FPI), one of the most important correctional programs operated by the BOP. Created by Federal statute in 1934, it operates as a wholly owned, self-sustaining Government corporation under the trade name UNICOR. FPI employs and provides skills training to Federal inmates at its diverse factory settings and contributes to the safety and security of Bureau facilities by keeping inmates constructively occupied.