REENTRY & EMPLOYMENT.
Center for Employment Opportunities
Paid transitional work, with daily pay, for people just out of prison, then coaching into a full-time job.
What they do
The Center for Employment Opportunities works only with people recently released from incarceration. Participants start with job-readiness training, then move straight into paid transitional work on CEO crews, grounds maintenance and litter and weed clearing for government and private customers, with pay every day. Job coaches then place them into full-time employment and stay with them through advanced training and retention support. It began as a Vera Institute demonstration project in the 1970s and became independent in 1996; it now operates in 30 cities across 12 states.
Programs and services
- Job-readiness training
- Transitional employment with daily pay
- Job coaching and placement
- Advanced training
- Retention services
- Work crews for government and private customers
- Policy work on reentry employment
More than 53,000 placements into full-time employment for people who were formerly incarcerated; more than 8,000 people served each year. Source