CEO Expands Work in PA with Pittsburgh Partnership
MEDIA CONTACT
Bari Samad | [email protected]; (619) 343-6509
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 15, 2022
The Pittsburgh City Council today approved a two-year partnership with The Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) that will provide critical transitional work and job training to individuals returning from prison.
This partnership builds off of similar, successful programs that CEO, a national nonprofit providing employment services to individuals returning from prison, operates, specifically working with individuals impacted by gun violence in Philadelphia, New Orleans and New York. While helping individuals obtain necessary job skills and training, these programs are also effective violence reduction programs in that they help reduce recidivism by providing a pathway for economic mobility while intervening with individuals who are at high risk of being involved in gun violence.
“We are thrilled to partner with Pittsburgh in its violence reduction strategy by providing returning citizens the tools and services they need to make a successful and safe transition home. CEO provides daily pay, daily training, and wrap-around support services to assist individuals in obtaining a job and achieving economic mobility,” said Jacqueline Weinberger, CEO’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Director. “Together, we can remove some of the barriers facing these individuals by providing transitional jobs, access to employment training and connections to employers across the city.”
Below is an overview of the Pittsburgh program:
- Transitional work crews, each with 5-7 individuals, where people are paid daily a rate of $11/hr
- Clearing abandoned property, cleaning up illegal dumping and other beautification work in the city’s 10,000 vacant lots
With the launch of this new partnership, CEO will serve upwards of 450 individuals annually in Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and Philadelphia). Nationally, CEO has 32 site offices in 12 states and has made more than 34,000 job placements with more than 4,000 private employers nationwide.
The Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) provides immediate,
effective, and comprehensive employment services exclusively to people
recently released from incarceration. CEO currently operates in over 30
cities and is dedicated to ensuring that justice-impacted job seekers
have opportunities to achieve social and economic mobility. For more
information please visit: https://ceoworks.org
