Get a Work Crew
Get a Work Crew

CEO's transitional work crews are teams of 5 to 9 participants under the direction of a CEO employed supervisor. CEO's work crews provide minor repair, maintenance, grounds keeping and janitorial work.

What we do
For all CEO participants, being part of a work crew is an invaluable opportunity that provides immediate income and basic work experience that boosts their self-esteem. By getting a paycheck daily, CEO participants can begin to prepare for meaningful employment outside of CEO and to reenter their community - ultimately breaking the cycle of re-incarceration.

For over 30 years, the work crews have carried out a wide variety of activities for customers:

• Grounds keeping
• Building Maintenance
• Demolition
• Highway cleanup
• Painting
• Range of special projects (i.e. special event set-up and break down, separating recyclable material)

Your benefits
When you hire CEO workers, your benefits are:

• You get consistent, reliable manpower
• We provide a supervisor that will manage the work crew
• We take care of the payroll for every paycheck
• We provide a team of CEO staff that will provide additional support

How does it work for government agencies?

• Hundreds of parolees are put to work in CEO's transitional work program at minimal cost to the State through an Internal Service Fund housed in the State Division of Parole
• Internal Service Fund accounts for the financing of goods and services provided by one State agency to other State agencies, institutions, or other governmental units on a cost-reimbursement basis
• CEO acts as Parole's managing agent that provides services to a State agency (such as the Department of Transportation)
• The Internal Service Fund offers a quick and convenient way for government agencies to get services from CEO through their existing maintenance and repair budgets


For more information on getting a CEO work crew, contact
Tim Williams
Director of Transitional Employment Services

212 422 4430 Ext 230
Research and Learning

Center for Employment Opportunities - Contact Us
Contact Us

Employers Seeking Reliable and Qualified Employees

Use our free employment services today. Contact us to inquire about hiring our clients and/or tell us of any vacancies you need to fill.


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Research and Learning

Center for Employment Opportunities - Tools
CEO has created a manual for replicating our model in other locations called The Power of Work.
In addition to The Power of Work we also offer the following hands-on tools to workforce development and criminal justice agencies nationwide and internationally:

  • Recruitment, Intake, and Transitional Employment for Those with Criminal Records

  • Job Coaching & Job Development for Those with Criminal Records, and

  • An Executive & Financial Guide to Building a Transitional Work Program for Those with Criminal Records


Click on the titles above for a preview of each manual.

Because the How-To Manuals describe our business operations in detail, we charge a fee for their distribution, applicable to the lead agency, based on the sliding scale below:

Operating budget under $250,000 - Please contact us
Operating budget of $250,000-$500,000 - $3,000 per manual
Operating budget of 500,000 to 2 million - $5,000 per manual
Operating budget of $2-$5 million - $7,500 per manual
Operating budget above $5 million $10,000 per manual

Along with the manuals comes site access to CEO to meet with and job shadow our transitional work and job coaching and job development staff, for more than one visit. If you pay our expenses, we can also send a CEO team member for a site visit to give you advice on your particular area of need, be it starting a program, finding and training staff, or developing transitional work crew opportunities.

To learn about building CEO where you live and work, contact

Sam Schaeffer
Chief Business Development Officer





Research and Learning

Center for Employment Opportunities - Consulting
CEO's executive and development staff are available to work with other cities to adapt and implement our programs through peer-to-peer consulting and planning. Some areas where we have offered support in the past include:
• Working with you to develop proposals for funding, using our data to support the premise that work can help prevent recidivism
• Support the adaptation of your current program to serve those with criminal records
• Support your team with hard data at stakeholder meetings and with potential government partners

To learn about building CEO where you live and work, contact

Sam Schaeffer
Chief Business Development Officer
Research and Learning

Center for Employment Opportunities - CEO Model
CEO Model
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Research and Learning

Center for Employment Opportunities - Young Adult Services
Young Adult Services
Young adults face unique challenges, including little work experience and an unfamiliarity with workplace culture. CEO's Young Adult Program tailors the initial four weeks of the CEO program to the needs of high risk young people aged 18-25.

Young Adult program participants are "eased in" to the demands of work and receive more coaching, in individual and group sessions, about how to work. Program participants work three days of transitional work each week on special young adult worksites, combined with two days of coaching and group work per week. With a stronger emphasis on support and guidance, the Young Adult Program's group work addresses issues and attitudes participants have towards work, parents and family members.

Upon completion of the Young Adult Program, participants transition into regular CEO programming and are better prepared for long-term, full-time employment. CEO researchers found that Young Adult Program participants worked more days of transitional work, and were placed in permanent jobs at a higher rate than young adults of the same age at CEO who were not part of the program. Read the report.
Research and Learning

The Young Adult Program's group work addresses issues and attitudes participants have towards work, parents and family members.

Center for Employment Opportunities - Case Studies and Testimonials
Case Studies and Testimonials
James Lora: From Incarceration to Promotion

James Lora came to CEO not knowing what to expect. He was in a unique situation because he was both a Young Adult and a Father – he had to deal with having little work experience and address his childcare issues.

What helped James, says his Job Developer Terry Ellis, was his enthusiasm to work. His Job Coach Erika Pula reassured him that as long as he had the willingness to learn, he would not have a problem finding a job. "He didn't have a lot of interview experience, so he would get a bit nervous." Pula said.

Lora was still skeptical about how employers would look at his criminal record. "When I came to CEO, I didn't know what to expect because of my convictions."

Job Developer Terry Ellis and Job Coach Erika Pula worked hand-in-hand to set the right expectations for James as well as for his potential employer. Ellis says that "The employer appreciates when we send the right person for the right job, so they can keep calling us back and good relationships."

All this effort to customize the right skills to the open job order has paid off. Lora was hired at Coldstone Creamery and has since been promoted to train new hires.

Lora is not stopping there. He wants to go back to school eventually and keep doing better. "The staff at CEO helped me find a job and kept me motivated to do well at my job. Through the Fatherhood program, I also learned to be a better father and be a better caretaker for my son. If it weren't for this program, I would not know how to be motivated to stay employed" Lora said.


Research and Learning

Through the Fatherhood program, I also learned to be a better father and be a better caretaker for my son.- James Lora, a CEO Responsible Fatherhood Program participant

Center for Employment Opportunities - Responsible Fatherhood Program
Responsible Fatherhood Program
The Responsible Fatherhood Program was developed to assist participants who want to resume or take on a role as a responsible parent. The voluntary program provides:

• A Child Support Advocacy Unit to help fathers navigate the child support system. The trained and experienced staff assists fathers in acknowledging paternity and preparing and filing petitions to modify child support orders to reflect current earnings. Staff members are also available to accompany fathers to child support hearings.

• Responsible Fatherhood Classes to teach parenting skills, child development, effective discipline, and communication in a group session.

• Workshops including financial management and budgeting, health, sexuality, and information on visitation and custody issues.
Research and Learning

Center for Employment Opportunities - Job Development and Placement
Job Development and Placement
CEO's job developers excel at matching the skills, interests and abilities of program participants with specific needs of employers. Job developers create and sustain relationships with employers who are open to hiring CEO graduates. They know what those employers are looking for in a new hire and find the CEO participants that are the best fit for the job.

Once a week, participants who are job start ready come to see their job developer, dressed for interviews. The job developer either sends the enrollee to a scheduled interview or discusses job-searching strategies. Participants continue on transitional work crews until they find a permanent job.

CEO has placed participants with more than 300 public and private-sector employers, many of whom have become repeat hirers and referred other firms to CEO. In addition, past participants have helped identify openings in workplaces appropriate for current enrollees. Some have even become employers of CEO participants themselves.
Research and Learning

Within 2-3 months, more than 65% of job-start ready participants are placed in full-time jobs

CEO helps clients develop an employment plan that matches their skills with the current job openings

Center for Employment Opportunities - Case Studies and Testimonials
Case Studies and Testimonials
Wesley Thompson: From Shock Parole to Success

After completing the Shock Parole program*, Thompson was set on getting his life together, but had no place to start. "When I first got out, I had no home. I considered going to a shelter" says Thompson. Thompson's situation is a typical one for most formerly incarcerated individuals coming home from prison.

Through CEO's transitional work program, Wesley was able to put some money in his pocket to help him travel and get situated to look for work.
"Every cent I earned, I saved. I didn't need to commit crime to get by" Thompson says.

Soon after completing CEO's Lifeskills classes and transitional work program, Thompson was hired at Coldstone Creamery. After a little over a month of solid performance on the job, his Retention Specialist Metha Brown began what would be a year long process of exploring educational programs throughout the City University of New York (CUNY) schools.

"Wesley was so ambitious, much of the early counseling focused on capitalizing on his current job to rebuild longevity on his resume" says Brown. Eventually, after shadowing Brown's former employer which specializes in online marketing, Thompson landed an internship there and was offered to become a freelance production assistant for events and trends research.

All the juggling between a full-time job and internship paid off. At Coldstone Creamery, Thompson was promoted to Store Manager and now supervises many of the new placements who are CEO participants like him. Thompson says "The staff at CEO helped me be motivated and see the big picture. I am now focused on going back to school, moving forward in my career, and getting my life back together."

EMPLOYER TESTIMONIALS
Robert Esposito, Senior Vice President of Operations, The Times Square Alliance

The Times Square Alliance was founded in 1992 and works to improve and promote Times Square and to provide sanitation, public safety and supplemental services to the area which covers most of the territory from 40th Street to 53rd Street between 6th and 8th Avenues, as well as Restaurant Row (46th Street between 8th and 9th Avenue).

“Since July 2008, I have hired 23 people from CEO as sanitation workers, working part-time, three days a week. Their responsibilities include: emptying litter baskets, graffiti removal, painting light poles, fire hydrants and newsstands, vacuuming, scrubbing, washing and disinfecting sidewalks, and collecting and removing garbage bags. And when a full-time position opens up, we select from among the part-timers who already know how to do the job the way we do it here, so it’s a ‘win-win.’”

“There is no question that the key to the success of our partnership with CEO is the rapport I feel with CEO job developers who understand the kind of people we need and who have taken the time to understand our operation. The part-time to full-time arrangement enables me to uncover “diamonds-in-the rough,” to find and to keep qualified people part-time until full-time positions become available, and in that way, I remain ahead of the game.”

See past Employer Testimonials:
Props for Today, Spring 2009
C.S. Brown, Winter 2009
CitiStorage, Fall 2008
Research and Learning

*In this program, incarcerated individuals who successfully complete a six-month boot camp are released from custody earlier than they would have been if they had not participated in the program.

Center for Employment Opportunities - Pre-placement Services
Pre-placement Services
Every participant at CEO is assigned a job coach who helps him or her get ready for full time employment. The job coach's work with all participants includes developing a resume, practicing interviewing (particularly answering the "conviction question") and learning job search skills. Other work will vary, depending on what issues each participant must work through to become job-start ready. Job coaches help participants address challenges with timeliness on the paid transitional worksites, or workplace behavior or dress. They can help a participant find resources to deal with personal or family challenges.

To ensure clients are job-start ready, CEO has identified five behaviors that employers want to see in a new hire, and that CEO requires on its worksites and in its offices. Called the CEO’s Company Principles of Success, or CEOCPs, these behaviors are:

Cooperation with supervisor
Effort at work
On time
Cooperation with co-workers
Personal presentation

Participants' progress in mastering these behaviors is evaluated every day in a portable Passport to Success. Each day transitional work supervisors give participants a numerical rating on each behavior in their Passport to Success. Job Coaches look at participants' progress on the Passport to Success and advise participants on how they might strengthen any behaviors that need improvement. When participants and job coaches work together on these behaviors so that participants are job start ready, on average around three weeks after enrollment, participants move on to active job development.
Research and Learning

CEO assesses participants' skills and background to match them to the right employers

CEO's qualified instructors teach formerly incarcerated individuals to explain their conviction history to employers

Center for Employment Opportunities - Rapid Rewards
Rapid Rewards
Participants who remain employed at a job, not necessarily the same job, each month after placement can be rewarded with cash or transportation fare cards. The program offers critical support to help offset the high costs of transportation and basic necessities that make it difficult for many individuals-especially those transitioning from prison - to remain employed.

Participants can receive hundreds of dollars of incentives for one year of consecutive employment.

CEO studied the Rapid Rewards program and found that participation in the Rapid Rewards program predicted continued employment at 90, 180 and 365 days after job placement.


Research and Learning

With nearly 900 participants enrolled thus far, Rapid Rewards is an important component of CEO's retention services.

Center for Employment Opportunities - Transitional Work
Transitional Work
CEO's signature transitional work program offers participants immediate paid employment. This time-limited program follows the pre-employment training and prepares participants with skills and experience essential to gain permanent employment.

Participants work on one of CEO's 35-40 worksites throughout New York City, in crews of 5-9 CEO participants with a CEO-employed supervisor. The crews provide minor repair, maintenance, grounds keeping and janitorial work for public agencies that pay for these services.

During transitional work, participants experience-sometimes for the first time in their lives-what it means to:

• get to work on time
• take direction from a supervisor
• be an appreciated co-worker
• work steadily throughout the workday
• express themselves to their supervisor and co-workers effectively and respectfully.

Through such experiential learning, participants begin to change their workplace behavior and become prepared for the private workforce.

CEO participants remain on transitional jobs for an average of two months before being placed in full time work.
Research and Learning

People who join CEO's immediate employment program are 50% less likely to return to prison within one year of release

CEO has over 35 transitional worksites throughout New York City

Center for Employment Opportunities - Post Placement Services
Post Placement Services
Ensuring participants remain in meaningful, full-time employment is essential to CEO's mission. To ensure success for participants, CEO offers a wide range of post placement services to participants, based on their level of need.

Intensive services consist of:

  • frequent telephone contact

  • regular meetings at or near the workplace or at CEO

  • workplace counseling

  • career planning

  • goal setting

  • referrals to providers of health, substance abuse treatment, education, housing, and other services as needed.


Less intensive services consist of monthly in-person or telephone contact with a CEO representative and with referrals offered as necessary. Job redevelopment services are offered to clients who lose their jobs or who wish to move into other employment. All participants are invited to join CEO's Rapid Rewards employment incentive program.

In addition to individualized services, CEO hosts a series of retention dinners for participants who have reached retention goals. These dinners showcase participants as successful workers and provide another way for CEO to celebrate their achievement. At retention dinners, participants are offered a chance to make a speech. They are also invited to bring guests to the dinner, including family members who have contributed to the participant’s achievement on the job.
Research and Learning

CEO offers a wide range of post placement services to participants, based on their level of need.

Center for Employment Opportunities - Pre-employment Services
Pre-employment Services
CEO provides an in-depth orientation every Friday for new enrollees. After discussing program requirements and expectations, CEO assesses each participant's reading, math and job-related skills. CEO also gathers information on employment history, family and health issues.

After orientation the program continues with four days of intensive job-readiness training. CEO's curriculum is delivered by certified instructors experienced in working with people with criminal convictions. Participants learn valuable skills, including:

• Resume writing techniques
• Job-searching skills
• Workplace behavior
• How to discuss conviction and incarceration history on an interview

Research and Learning

CEO assesses participants' skills and background to match them to the right employers

CEO's qualified instructors teach formerly incarcerated individuals to explain their conviction history to employers