The Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) helps youth and adults returning home from prison find and keep permanent employment. Participants begin the program with a week-long intensive job readiness training (led by CEO staff) to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to find a job and stay employed. Immediately after, each participant is placed in a temporary, paid job (supervised by CEO) as he or she works with vocational staff to find a permanent position. CEO also offers post-placement services and follow-up 12 months after a full-time position is gained. It works with over 2,900 formerly incarcerated individuals in New York City annually, over a third of whom are 18 to 25 years old and generally have the greatest difficulty finding meaningful employment.

Evaluation Status: High-Level Apparent Effectiveness

CEO participated in a $25 million, six-organization impact evaluation conducted by MDRC and sponsored by the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services that tracked participants for three years starting in 2005. The randomized controlled trial found that CEO’s model had statistically significant impacts on the criminal justice outcomes of participants recently released from prison — they were 22 percent less likely to be convicted and 26 percent less likely to be -re-incarcerated for a new crime.

EMCF Investment

Since 2003, the Foundation has invested $9.75 million to help CEO develop and implement its business plan. Among its accomplishments during this period, CEO implemented an organization-wide performance tracking and management system, and designed a specialized outreach program to address the needs of youth participants.

For more information, visit CEO’s website at www.ceoworks.org.