The program includes a variety of programs:

• Street outreach and correctional facility in-reach; gang peacemaking
• Paid work experience in UTEC social enterprises: Mattress Recycling, Food Services, and Woodworking
• Earn certifications including OSHA and ServSafe option
• Intensive wraparound supports throughout the self-paced program, with average enrollment of 18-24 months
• Integrated education for HiSET/GED attainment and dual-enrollment options
• 2Gen programming with co-located early education center and family engagement activities
• Social justice and civic engagement embedded throughout the model
• Transition to external employment and 2 years of follow-up services

In FY18, UTEC served 148 young adults in their intensive enrollment program, and nearly 600 total including Streetworker outreach and engagement. Of enrolled young adults, 94% had a criminal record; 66% lacked a high school credential; and 52% were expecting/parenting. Despite these barriers, young adults achieved:

• 97% had no new convictions or technical violations;
• 88% had no new arrests or technical violations;
• 63% received an industry-recognized certification.

Outcomes for young adults included (FY17):

• 99% of UTEC enrolled young people had no new convictions;
• 90% of UTEC enrolled young people had no new arrests;
• 32% of young people who attended HiSET classes earned their credential this year.

Of participants who completed programming 2 years ago:

• 94% had no new arrests since leaving UTEC;
• 78% are currently employed and/or enrolled in post-secondary education.

Connections to Success (CTS) uses a holistic, evidence-based model to help individuals and families gain social capital and achieve economic independence. The organization’s approach is intergenerational, focused on improving outcomes for both parents and their children through programming and collaborations with other service providers. CTS’s model integrates training opportunities, life transformation coaching, support services and job development to equip participants for long-term success. CTS offers ongoing support to foster continued growth and career advancement. Through its holistic Pathways to Success model, CTS targets families impacted by generational poverty, incarceration, and unemployment. The model includes a Personal and Professional Development workforce training and focuses on healthy relationships, parenting, employment services, life coaching, education and skills training, volunteer engagement, and mentoring.

Interagency collaboration has been key to the program’s success. By having multiple partners involved, the team has been able to help remove barriers many individuals coming out of prison face. For example, the team helped enroll the men in SNAP, secure housing, and meet with Child Support and Probation and Parole. Additionally, employers participated in mock interviews and representatives from an apprenticeship program shared opportunities. CTS also provided new suits to each of the men, and many received job offers.

CTS focuses on intergenerational impact to ensure outcomes extend beyond the immediate future and empower the next generation. Of CTS program graduates, 74% become employed and 70% retain employment at nine months following initial employment. Additionally, 82% of those employed received earnings increase within six months of employment. CTS participants involved in the organization’s reentry programs have experienced a 14% recidivism in 12 months after release from incarceration, and for those who also participated in their mentoring program, the recidivism rate is only 8% (compared to the national average of 44%).