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Twin Cities RISE!
TCR! is an anti-poverty program which provides career entry training in technical work skills and core skills (emotional intelligence training) for un- and underemployed adults, including those with backgrounds including felonies, homelessness, chemical dependency, and other barriers to career employment. The key training program, Personal Empowerment, has been recognized as the critical factor which results in employment retention rates of 82% at the end of the first year and 73% by the end of the second year. Not only is this life-changing curriculum offered in before-release and post-release settings, but it has contributed to recidivism rates of 12% for participants who complete the program.
Quick Facts:
- Focus of initiative/program:
- Employment/Job Training
- Inititative/program name:
- Twin Cities RISE! Empowerment Institute
- Year Established:
- 1992
- Lead agency/organization name:
- Twin Cities RISE!
- Population served by initiative/program:
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- Returning from local detention facilities
- Returning from local jails
- Returning from prison
- Not under community corrections supervision
- Under community corrections supervision (parole or probation)
- Adults
- Men
- Women
- People convicted of a violent offense
- People convicted of a non-violent offense
- Victims
- Gang members
- Tribal populations
Downloads
Twin Cities RISE!
Contact:
Cy YustenExecutive Director
Twin Cities RISE! Empowerment Institute
Phone: 612-279-5802
800 Washington Avenue North, Suite 203
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55401
cyusten@twincitiesrise.org
www.twincitiesrise.org
Twin Cities RISE!
Initiatives and Programs
- Focus of initiative/program:
- Employment/Job Training
- Inititative/program name:
- Twin Cities RISE! Empowerment Institute
- Lead agency/organization name:
- Twin Cities RISE!
- Funding sources for initiative/program:
- 2/3 philanthropy, 1/3 mix of grants/state/federal
- X
- X
- X
- X
- X
Funding
Partners in the reentry initiative/program
| Informal Agreement | Formal Agreement (e.g., a written contract or an MOU) with this partner. |
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| Community- and faith-based services providers: |
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| Institutional corrections (e.g., DOC, jail, prison): |
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| Members of the community (e.g., people who have been incarcerated, their families or neighbors): |
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| Other criminal justice agencies (e.g., prosecutors, judges): |
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| Work force development and employment agencies (e.g. business associations, unions): |
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Participants
- Population served by initiative/program:
-
- Returning from local detention facilities
- Returning from local jails
- Returning from prison
- Not under community corrections supervision
- Under community corrections supervision (parole or probation)
- Adults
- Men
- Women
- People convicted of a violent offense
- People convicted of a non-violent offense
- Victims
- Gang members
- Tribal populations
- Total number of people who have participated in initiative/program to date:
- approx 10,000
- Total number of people currently participating in initiative/program:
- approx 800/yr
- Total number of people who can be served at one time:
- 250 per quarter in the core program but 2000 in a reentry program
- If your initiative/program serves people under community corrections supervision, how does your organization work in partnership or work in collaboration with participants’ probation or parole officers?
- Each participant has a personal work coach with required weekly meetings. PO staff are included as a resource in that relationship so that we can support each other in helping the ex-offender make the transition back into a career that will provide the income for them to support their families and become an active, contributing member of their community.
Data Collection
- Does your organization collect demographic data on participants?
- Yes
- If "yes", what kind of data? And what results has this data yielded?
- We collect DOB, ethnicity, arrest/conviction records, release date, contact information and P.O. contact information.
- Does your organization collect data about the process of your initiative/program?
- Yes
- If "yes", what kind of data? And what results has this data yielded?
- Case files are maintained on all participants by his/her coach and are updated weekly. A record of all training and the success of the participant in the training programs is maintained. Background information on treatment and records of the ongoing drug tests during our program are also collected.
- Does your organization measure and/or track the outcome of participation?
- Yes
- If "yes", what kind of data? And what results has this data yielded?
- In the past, we used felony record checking to build a case file but have recently begun collecting similar data on all active participants to have a more current record. The data has shown that, compared to the national recidivism rate of 62%, "Early Exit" participants have a recidivism rate of 33% (those who completed a month or two of the program); "Partial Program" participants have a recidivism rate of 20% (those who stayed in the program through several training levels over several months but did not complete their final career placement program); and participants who complete the full program have a recidivism rate of 12%.
Activities
- What, if any, activities does your initiative/program include for people while they are incarcerated and how do these activities differ from those offered to the general population?
- We offer an "Inside Out" Personal Empowerment program for those who are incarcerated but who are within 6 months of release. This program is very similar to the training we include in our core program but it has the flexibility to be presented in topic-based settings as well as the full curriculum.
- What activities does your organization engage in post-release and how do these activities differ from those offered to the general population?
- We treat ex-offenders as we treat everyone else. They become a participant in our core program and engage in the training program that matches their interest areas and career choices. We guide those with felony histories into the career fields that we know do not have limitations for them.
- How are people placed into your program?
- self-referral, recruiting programs we provide in the metro area, and recommendatons of family and P.O. staff