Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) helps prepare young people and adults returning home from prison to find and keep permanent employment. It works with more than 2,500 parolees in New York State annually, over a third of whom are 18 to 25 years old and generally have great difficulty finding employment. It offers participants job readiness coaching, transitional employment, job placement assistance, and retention services.

CEO is currently participating in a $25 million, six-organization impact evaluation being conducted by MDRC and sponsored by the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. Interim evaluation results released in 2007 show that participants who have recently been released from prison have significantly lower recividism rates.

Numbers Served

* Projected totals

** The drop in total numbers served in 2005 was due to the integration of a pilot program that was part of CEO's business plan at the time. This program - working with participants released from Rikers Island prison - required CEO to create new transitional employment capacity. Thus, intake for the baseline population (parolees) was temporarily reduced. By 2006, CEO had enough transitional employment capacity to fully meet the needs of both parolees and people leaving Rikers Island.

Total Revenue (in millions)

* In 2005, CEO recorded large grants from private funders, leading to spikes in revenue. These grant dollars were spent down in the years following receipt of the funds.

Outcomes: Enrollment and Placement

Performance: Youth Retention Rate