79% of Participants Obtained Employment or Entered Culinary Arts Program

CLEVELAND – Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish today announced very promising early results for the Comprehensive Reentry Services program rolled out in April in effort to help inmates gain job skills necessary to succeed in an in-demand occupation upon reintegrating back into society.

Comprehensive Reentry Services' culinary training program showing compelling evidence that revealed 50% of participants obtained employment post release and 29% entered EDWINS Leadership and Restaurant Institute six-month program.

"We in county government are committed to reducing the rate of recidivism by providing prisons the job training they need to become productive members of society after their release", said County Executive Budish. "Comprehensive Reentry Services is another example of our concerted efforts to help provide career pathways for success. I thank the county employees and our community partners who have worked tirelessly over the last six months to give prisoners who have paid their dues a real chance to succeed.”

The program is a voluntary pre and post release employment and job readiness program for male adult individuals serving court sentences in the County jail and housed at the Euclid facility.  Individuals who meet the criteria for participation in the program must engage in all aspects of working on their employment plan while at the Euclid County Jail.

Partly funded from the U.S. Department of Labor grant; Comprehensive Reentry Services is a collaborative partnership that includes Cuyahoga County Corrections, OhioMeansJobs|Cleveland-Cuyahoga County, and Cuyahoga County Office of Reentry and EDWINS Leadership and Restaurant Institute.

Euclid service providers are Towards Employment (Pre and Post release job readiness and employment service), Recovery Resources (Intensive Outpatient Program and Thinking for a Change) and Project Learn (ABLE and GED services).  Services to be provided pre-release at the Euclid facility include:

Employment Assessment

• Individual Success Plan
• Career Exploration
• Job Readiness Skills Training
• ABLE/GED classes
• Behavioral Health/Substance Abuse Counseling Services
• Thinking for a Change workshops (cognitive choices, social skills, and problem solving)
• Culinary Arts Training

Post release, previous offenders continue to receiving ongoing services including job readiness training, job placement and retention, case management as well as additional supportive services to help them successfully reenter the community and find employment.  

To be eligible, inmates must be convicted as an adult and imprisoned under the municipal, county, Federal, or state law but have not been convicted of a sexual offense other than prostitution; and have enough time remaining on the sentence to complete the program.