Re-Entry Works in Houston: An innovative approach to training and employing ex-offenders as CHWs in a local health department

Each year, over 15,000 individuals are released to the Houston/Harris County area from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). Ex-offenders still face numerous economic punishments affecting how much they can earn, and what fields they will enter. These factors boost recidivism rates and significantly impact the ex-offender's chances of becoming a productive member of society again. The Houston Department of Health and Human Services (HDHHS) Community Re-Entry Network Program (CRNP) was implemented in 2007 to assist individuals previously incarcerated to take on demands of community life through practical and psycho-social skills needed to re-enter the community. Integration into the community implies that the person will interact legally within the community, adopt broad community values and behaviors and find peace, dignity and commitment in doing so. CRNP components assist participants to reach an overall goal of arrest-free living while managing a myriad of situations. One component of CRNP is job readiness, thus “Re-Entry Works”. This program is designed to address many of the barriers that affect an ex-offender's ability to successfully reintegrate into their community, manage daily living and overcome barriers which may prevent stabilized employment opportunities. Re-Entry Works places participants who have completed a 12-week training in a short-term, paid job as trained community health workers (CHW) within HDHHS and assist the participant in obtaining a work history. This reinforces the participants' sense of stability on the job and enables the participant to gain transferable job skills that will lead to permanent employment.