Employment

Stable employment is critical to a successful transition into the community, but reentering individuals often encounter significant barriers in finding employment upon release from prisons and jails, including low levels of education, limited vocational (or marketable) skills and limited work experience. Reentry programs have demonstrated the overwhelming need for employment opportunities for people released from prison and jail, and the need to facilitate the creation of job opportunities for this population.

Key Resources

Road to Reintegration, Ensuring Successful Community Re-Entry for People Who Are Former Offenders, Goodwill Industries International (2009)
This report provides recommendation for federal, state, and local policymakers as well as community-based service providers to develop successful models for people to reintegrate back into their communities once released from prison and jail.
The Joyce Foundation's Transitional Jobs Reentry Demonstration: Testing Strategies to Help Former Prisoners Find and Keep Jobs and Stay Out of Prison, MDRC (2009)
This policy brief describes an ongoing initiative, the Joyce Foundation’s Transitional Jobs Reentry Demonstration, that seeks to learn what works best to help former prisoners make a successful transition back into society.
"Redemption" in an Era of Widespread Criminal Background Checks, NIJ Journal (2009)
This report offers a preliminary model for providing empirical evidence on when an ex-offender has been clean long enough to be considered, for employment purposes, "redeemed."
Reentry Law Project Small Business Toolkit, New York City Bar Justice Center (2009)
This toolkit is designed to give New Yorkers an overview of legal issues that may come up for persons with criminal convictions who want to start a new business or move forward with a business they already have begun.
Serving the Employment Needs of Justice-Involved Juveniles and Adults: A Primer for Treatment and Recovery Support Service Providers, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (2008)
This guide provides information about legal and practical challenges that may hinder employment, training, and educational opportunities for people with criminal records as well as best practices that service providers may utilize to successfully connect justice-involved juveniles and adults to employment and educational opportunities.
Transitional Jobs: A Workforce Strategy for Cities, National League of Cities (2006)
This report highlights the workforce development strategies that cities and town across the nation are undertaking to provide people recently released from prison with transitional employment.
Good Jobs and Careers: What Communities Need to do to Train and Move Low-Income, Low-Skilled People into Good Jobs and Careers, Annie E. Casey Foundation (2004)
This document is intended as a guide to promote workforce development and should be used in conjunction with other resources, tools and promising practices from the field.

Program Examples

RKRM Consulting Inc

We offer a variety of services to ex-offenders such as employment assistance, mentoring, restoration of civil rights, housing assistance, GED preparartion and college assistance.

Re-Integration of Ex-Offenders

Re-Integration of Ex-Offenders (ReXo) Adult Program is a re-entry program serving 18 years old and above returning from Iowa's correctional institutions. We utilize our Critical Path Model to provide complete services to return then to Complete Whole Citizens.

Twin Cities RISE!

TCR! is an anti-poverty program which provides career entry training in technical work skills and core skills (emotional intelligence training) for un- and underemployed adults, including those with backgrounds including felonies, homelessness, chemical dependency, and other barriers to career employment. The key training program, Personal Empowerment, has been recognized as the critical factor which results in employment retention rates of 82% at the end of the first year and 73% by the end of the second year. Not only is this life-changing curriculum offered in before-release and post-release settings, but it has contributed to recidivism rates of 12% for participants who complete the program.

Dayton Northwest Weed and Seed Initiative

We are a Weed and Seed site that focuses on community restoration through crime prevention with a re-entry component that targets the urban and African-American community.

Windows to Work

Windows to Work is designed to address the criminogenic risk factors that can lead to recidivism including unemployment/underemployment, low/interrupted education, poor problem solving skills, inadequate housing, and financial difficulties. Windows to Work begins six months prior to release with both group and individual sessions and continues for approximately one year post-release. While providing services to participants, case managers develop and maintain contact in the community forming a network of employers, residential property owners, educational institutions, commmunity support agencies, and treatment providers to assist Windows to Work participants.