Now in its third year, the Road to Restoration (R2R) public-private partnership initiative has served more than 8,000 Michiganders at 37 clinics in 19 cities across our state and transformed license restoration into an economic driver for Michigan.
Launched in 2021 by the Michigan Department of State (MDOS) and the Michigan Department of Attorney General, together with founding members Detroit Justice Center, DTE Energy and Miller Canfield, this dynamic, public-private partnership rallies resources to create in-person license restoration clinics to directly support those without the means or knowledge to restore their driving privileges alone.
Watch this video to learn more.
Last week, several DTE employees, together with teams from the MDOS, the Michigan Attorney General and Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC), alongside legal experts from the Detroit Justice Center and Miller Canfield law firm, applied what we learned to host license restoration clinics at two Michigan Department of Corrections Vocational Villages, located at Parnall and Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facilities during April’s Second Chance Month and National Reentry Week.
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- Regional manager Barbara Rykwalder lends her legal expertise alongside Detroit Justice Center’s lead attorney Rubina Mustara
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- Volunteer attorneys guide clinic participants with their license restoration journeys
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- Women’s Huron Valley returning citizen clinic participants are welcomed at the first-of-its-kind license restoration clinic
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- Soon-to-be-returning citizen gets her license photo taken after restoring her driving privileges at the April 2024 clinic
DTE Workforce Development program manager Laurie Washington volunteered and engaged with the Women’s Huron Valley clinic participants.
“Having the honor to assist at the women’s clinic and connecting with the ladies attending the clinic was truly humbling,” said Laurie. “I’m grateful for the role and the work that I get to do daily that reinforces our Service Keys, which aids those with barriers. I’m grateful to DTE for ensuring this critical work gets done.”
Community and Government Affairs regional manager Barbara Rykwalder was invited to participate in the Parnall clinic as a volunteer attorney assisting returning citizens with the license restoration process.
“Each individual I personally assisted had a compelling personal story about their life journey and why having their license restored was critical to closing the loop that enabled them to obtain employment and remain on a positive life track,” said Barbara. “Each individual was tremendously grateful for the assistance, I humbled by the interactions and we all greatly enjoyed hearing the infamous ‘bell ring’ when a license was restored!”
The team who stood up our tree trimming training program at Parnall Correctional Facility’s Vocational Village in 2018 saw a pattern of people held back by having suspended driver’s licenses. Our company’s leaders at that time brought the issue to MDOS’s attention.
Distribution Operations tree trim manager, Terrell Lockhart, who leads DTE’s two training programs at Parnall’s Vocational Village and our Detroit-based Tree Trim Academy, maintained conversations with the MDOS about how not having a driving license was a barrier to our tree trimming students’ ability to pursue the in-demand, union energy career we were training and equipping them for.
Read Dave Eggert’s Crain’s Detroit Business story to hear more from clinic participants and initiative partners.
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- A bell rang every time a clinic participant restored their driving license
