Who We Serve
CEO serves men and women coming home from incarceration looking for work. CEO is open to anyone under Parole Supervision, to qualify he or she must be able to do physical labor on transitional worksites (other restrictions include that the individual's most recent crime can not be a serious violent crime). We also accept other formerly incarcerated people on a case by case basis including individuals under the supervision of Federal or New York City Probation.

Formerly incarcerated individuals face significant and multiple barriers to employment, including a lack of basic education and occupational skills, limited or no work history, and minimal family and community support systems. In addition, formerly incarcerated persons face the burden of a felony conviction, and there is an increasing reluctance among employers to hire people with criminal histories.

CEO targets people recently released from prison and jail regardless of their education, skills, work history, or enthusiasm and provides pre-employment job readiness training through: one week of intensive classroom instruction; meetings with a job coach; paid transitional work at a CEO supervised work site; vocational assessment and job development; unsubsidized job placement; and job retention support. CEO is widely recognized for its proven ability to place the most difficult-to-employ individuals in full-time, permanent jobs.

Many participants have completed Shock Incarceration, New York State's six-month correctional boot camp. A large number were incarcerated under New York's mandatory sentencing laws, convicted of drug offenses. Ninety-four percent of CEO participants are men; their average age is 31. Ethnic makeup, similar to New York State's prison population, is 59 percent African American, 37 percent Hispanic and four percent Caucasian, Asian or other.

Learn more about our Recruitment and Referral.
Research and Learning