Would you give a job to this gangster?

Officials around Pennsylvania who want to reduce recidivism are studying a re-entry program in Lancaster that gives former inmates intensive case management to help them return to society. That includes transitional housing, job interview clothing and workshops on things like personal finance and interviewing skills. It also addresses the small slips that often send someone back to jail by putting the fees many former prisoners owe on hold for six months and helping them tackle bureaucratic challenges that can seem daunting.

Business clothes are expensive, and this can often be a barrier to low-income professionals. Dress for Success in New York City is a non-profit that collects second-hand business clothing and has high-end stylists on hand to help with fashion choices for clients. The clothes not only help low-income clients get better jobs, but also help improve self-esteem and confidence.

Some inner city schools, nonprofits, and businesses in New York lack the staff to make their organizations function for the people they serve. ReServe is a program that links retired professionals with part-time jobs in schools, libraries, hospitals and other city agencies to help fil this gap.

Creative reuse centers like Smart Art and Craft Supplies tackle waste reduction by redistributing donated art materials, simultaneously providing meaningful employment and inclusion opportunities for adults with disabilities.

The Fringe coffee shop in Hamilton, Ohio, employs people who were formerly incarcerated as part of a re-entry program. The shop owners work with each employee to create a re-entry plan that can include things like therapy, addiction and recovery meetings, tutoring and education, and even free tattoo removal.

A community violence intervention program modeled after READI is beginning in Philadelphia to connect high-risk individuals who were victims of violence or formerly incarcerated with basic needs services like therapy, employment, and housing assistance to reduce violence and recidivism. Holistic approaches like READI have already proven effective as half of participants are still working full time a year after attending the program and the program’s experimental group saw a 79% reduction in arrests for shootings and homicide.

Frustrated by a tight labor market, two locally owned Grand Rapids employers discovered the virtues – economic, not just moral – of hiring formerly incarcerated people, whose gratitude for an opportunity translated into excellent performance and less risk of adding to rapid turnover. The employers helped guarantee success by paying for support services that made post-prison transitions easier. The employers then talked hundreds of other local employers into doing the same. Besides providing a business advantage, the program changes lives and is evidently contributing to much lower rates of recidivism.

Maine's only offender re-entry program for women in Windham is on its way to replicate the success of similar programs in Texas and Nevada. Federal justice research has shown that offenders that go through re-entry programs are less likely to reoffend and more likely to hold down a steady job. The Windham program works towards this through their education program that incorporates students from local colleges as well as utilizing a collection of best practices developed by similar programs.

In rural North Dakota where clinical treatment centers are hard to find, a program called Free Through Recovery "seeks to drive down North Dakota’s prison rates by creating networks of sobriety and support around people on probation and parole." Although local law enforcement claims the program is not an alternative to incarceration, in the short time it has been in operation, it has served over 550 people with many participants securing both housing and work opportunities.

Connecting people coming out of incarceration with employment is crucial to helping them integrate back into society and not return to prison, but employers are often skittish about hiring people with records. Some argue the nature of their work is too sensitive to risk it, especially if employees work with sensitive data or law enforcement agencies. But employers in the Philadelphia metro region who have gone down this path often find it's worth it because the workers tend to be more loyal and stay longer in jobs, making for less turnover.