All NYC jail inmates to receive counseling, education

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All NYC jail inmates will receive five hours a day of counseling and education by year's end, announced Mayor Bill de Blasio.

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) - All inmates in New York City jails - regardless of crime- will receive five hours a day of education and training by the end of August, announced Mayor Bill de Blasio. The move is part of a larger plan to reduce recidivism in the city's jails.

"By the end of this year, anyone entering our jails will literally see a counselor on their very first day," said de Blasio.

As part of the new Jails to Jobs program, which will cost the city $10 million per year, former inmates will be guaranteed a minimum wage, two-month job upon their release.

According to de Blasio, former inmates with jobs are 22 percent less likely to return to jail.

The city already has the lowest incarceration rate of any major city in the United States.

"The name of the game is to constantly reduce mass incarceration—and that's exactly what we're doing in New York City," tweeted the mayor.