Self-Assessment for Employment-Focused Reentry Programs
Measuring Fidelity to the Integrated Reentry and Employment Strategies (IRES) Framework
This self-assessment from the National Reentry Resource Center helps programs gauge their capacity to provide integrated reentry and employment interventions, including work readiness, to people with varying risks and needs. The tool helps reentry practitioners identify opportunities to build the capacity of their programming and services, which, in turn, can better prepare participants for employment and decrease their likelihood of returning to incarceration.
Finding employment is a critical part of successful reentry for the millions of people returning to communities after incarceration, but it’s not the only part. Appropriately addressing criminogenic risk and needs as well as the soft and hard skills necessary for the workplace are also key in reducing recidivism and improving long-term job retention in this population. Employment-focused reentry programs are often uniquely positioned to administer these services.
The self-assessment should be used in conjunction with the Integrated Reentry and Employment Strategies: Reducing Recidivism and Promoting Job Readiness (IRES) white paper, a resource released in 2013 that helps policymakers, practitioners, and system administrators ensure resources are being used effectively to improve employment outcomes for people who have been incarcerated or are on probation or parole.
This May, the state of Washington passed legislation supporting the expansion of alternative response teams (sometimes called community…
Read More
The CSG Justice Center Advisory Board establishes the policy and project priorities of the organization. The board features…
Read More
New Mexico launched a pilot program in 2024 to divert people with mental health needs and misdemeanor charges…
Read More
Developing a Common Definition for Community Responder Programs
This May, the state of Washington passed legislation supporting the expansion of alternative response teams (sometimes called community responders) as a public safety service.
Read More
Finding Solutions to Complex Criminal Justice Issues: Q&A with New CSG Justice Center Advisory Board Member Justice Briana Zamora
The CSG Justice Center Advisory Board establishes the policy and project priorities of the organization. The board features a cross-section of leaders who shape criminal justice policy in various parts of the country.
Read More
From Courtroom to Care: 5 Key Strategies Behind New Mexico’s Competency Diversion Pilot
New Mexico launched a pilot program in 2024 to divert people with mental health needs and misdemeanor charges out of the justice system and into care.
Read More
The 10-Year Impact—and Future—of Stepping Up: Facing the Behavioral Health Crisis in Jails and Communities with Real Solutions
As the Stepping Up initiative marks its 10th year, America’s justice and behavioral health systems are facing a shared crisis: how to meet the behavioral health needs of people cycling through jails.
Read More
Breaking Down Barriers: Reentry 2030 States Meet to Tackle Employment-Related Collateral Consequences
On June 26, the CSG Justice Center convened state leaders in workforce development, education, and corrections from 7 Reentry 2030 states for the second session of the Reentry 2030 Workforce Development Peer Learning Cohort.
Read More
How Embedded Data Analysts Are Transforming State Corrections Systems
While corrections agencies across the country collect vast amounts of…
Read More