Established in 1988, Chattanooga Endeavors is the first and longest-serving re-entry program in East Tennessee. #Chattanooga #SecondChances #IntegrativeJustice
What Really Works
To many people, the relationship between crime and employment is a matter of common sense. However, research tells a more complicated story. Those who remain crime free after prison, in general, have more positive attitudes about employment, get along better with their coworkers, and are more receptive to supervision than their re-offending peers. However, these qualities are not developed as a result of finding employment. Finding employment — and sticking with it — is a result of these qualities. They must be there in place first.
Punchy slogans like “better off working” and “nothing stops a bullet like a job” are quick to engage the popular imagination – however, evidence about what really works points in a different direction. Programming has to follow the research — providing the right service, in the right amount, at the right time, and in the right way. This includes helping former offenders to develop healthy thinking patterns, meaningful work trajectories, effective coping strategies, positive social engagement, and positive interpersonal relationships. And to do this effectively, it requires that they develop clarity about their deepest values and the habit of finding meaning in the moment.
Our framework is based on 36 years of experience assisting former offenders to enter the workforce, mounting evidence about what drives crime, and nearly a century of research on the common factors impacting change efforts in counseling and training programs. It includes:
Stephen's Table
Through our Stephen’s Table program, volunteers establish early contact with Tennessee prisoners from Hamilton County – preserving valuable social bonds with their hometown and developing our pipeline of participants.
Community Reengagement Blueprint
As prisoners enter their final 6 months of incarceration, the relationship established by volunteers is transferred to a professional team to develop a plan for what we refer to as “community reengagement.”
Community Building
As prisoners enter their final 6 months of incarceration, the relationship established by volunteers is transferred to a professional team to develop a plan for what we refer to as “community reengagement.”
Pathways
Under construction (a.k.a. seeking funding).
Participants are released to a combination of case management, peer support, citizen advocacy and resocializing activities. The goal is sustainability — through gainful employment for those who are able and through a combination of public and community assistance for those who are not.
Peer Specialists
Also, under construction (waiting on Pathways)
Peer specialists provide informal support and accountability while assisting participants with their case management goals in ways that are impracticable for regular staff. More importantly, they cultivate hope in participants by the simple fact that they were once facing the same challenges.
