I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1077 
To establish a pilot program to provide training and certification in the 
culinary arts for Federal inmates to be utilized during the normal inmate 
meals process and to be accredited for future employment and edu-
cational opportunities, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 15, 2011 
Ms. RICHARDSON (for herself and Ms. BASS of California) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To establish a pilot program to provide training and certifi-
cation in the culinary arts for Federal inmates to be 
utilized during the normal inmate meals process and 
to be accredited for future employment and educational 
opportunities, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cooking Helps Elevate 
Futures Act’’ or the ‘‘CHEF Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
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(1) In 2008, according to the Bureau of Justice 
Statistics, the United States had more individuals in 
prison than any other developed nation, with more 
than 2,000,000 individuals incarcerated. 
(2) Each year, more than 650,000 inmates are 
released from State and Federal prisons after com-
pleting their sentences and such inmates return to 
living and participating in society in communities 
across the United States. 
(3) There are many impediments affecting the 
successful reentry of inmates into society, including 
the lack of marketable job skills and the overall risk 
of recidivism. 
(4) Because many inmates are not prepared for 
reentry into society and lack access to certain serv-
ices and networks of support, the recidivism rate for 
inmates in the first year after release from prison is 
44.1 percent, increasing to 67.5 percent in the first 
3 years after release. 
(5) According to a 12-year study conducted by 
the Federal Bureau of Prisons, job skills, experience, 
and training obtained through prison work programs 
or vocational training programs have a positive ef-
fect on post release employment and recidivism, in-
creasing the likelihood that Federal inmates will suc-
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cessfully reintegrate into the community following 
their release from Federal prison. 
(6) Such study revealed that Federal inmates 
who participated in vocational training programs 
were 24 percent less likely to recidivate and 14 per-
cent more likely to be employed at the end of the 12- 
month period following their release from prison 
than such inmates who did not participate in such 
training programs. 
(7) Culinary training is an effective strategy for 
increasing employment rates among former inmates 
because of the high demand for employment in the 
food service industry. In 2008, according to the Bu-
reau of Labor Statistics, there were 546,300 pri-
vately owned food service and drinking places in the 
Unites States, offering over 1,564,000 culinary posi-
tions. 
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General 
shall establish a pilot program— 
(1) to provide training and certification in the 
culinary arts for Federal inmates in order to provide 
such inmates with marketable employment skills; 
and 
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(2) to provide such inmates with job placement 
assistance after their release from a Federal correc-
tional facility. 
(b) FACILITIES SELECTED.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 
select 10 different Federal correctional facilities lo-
cated in different regions of the continental United 
States to participate in the pilot program. 
(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In selecting Federal 
correctional facilities under paragraph (1), the At-
torney General shall take into consideration for each 
State— 
(A) percentage of the State’s population 
that are Federal inmates; 
(B) the recidivism rate of such inmates; 
and 
(C) the unemployment rate of such in-
mates after release from a Federal correctional 
facility. 
(3) DEFINITION.—In paragraph (1), the term 
‘‘continental United States’’ means a State (other 
than Alaska and Hawaii) and the District of Colum-
bia. 
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