Best and Promising Practices in Integrating Reentry and Employment Interventions

Hosted by the National Reentry Resource Center with funding support from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance

Employment is an important aspect of successful reentry, however simply placing people returning home after incarceration in a job is not the ultimate solution to reducing recidivism or improving long-term job retention. Reentry and employment programs that are achieving positive outcomes have moved beyond solely providing job-placement services and are focusing on providing opportunities to build employability skills and address a person’s criminogenic risk and need factors.

This webinar is based on lessons learned from integrating reentry and employment interventions to help people returning home after incarceration find and keep employment. The presentation is especially useful for corrections, reentry, and workforce development administrators and practitioners that are interested in maximizing scarce resources and improving recidivism and employment outcomes.

Presenters will:

• Discuss promising practices for connecting people to appropriate services based on their specific risk of reoffending and the associated needs;
• Highlight examples of integrating evidence-based and promising practices from the corrections and workforce development fields to improve outcomes for people in the criminal justice system;
• Demonstrate the importance of engaging leadership and direct service staff in planning a systems-wide coordinated process; and
• Discuss strategies for realigning resources to improve reentry and employment outcomes.

Presenters:

• Erica Nelson, Policy Analyst, The Council of State Governments Justice Center
• Jim Rhodes, Director of Training and Education, The Lord’s Place
• Craig Spatara, Manager, Criminal Justice Program, Palm Beach County Public Safety Department
• Chris Warland, Associate Director for Field Building, Heartland Alliance’s National Initiatives on Poverty & Economic Opportunity
• Ray Woodruff, Employment Programs Manager, Wisconsin Department of Corrections