Goodwill Industries and Community Justice Center Partner for Job Skills Education

Beginning March 1st, 2012 Goodwill Industries Serving Southeast Nebraska, Inc. began collaborating with Community Justice Center in an effort to help those reentering the workforce following incarceration gain meaningful employment and improve public safety. Goodwill teaches Employment Skills and Life Skills classes to those on probation or parole at the Lancaster County Adult Probation Day Reporting Center and has been looking for a way to expand their services to this population. Community Justice Center offers programming to help offenders with the victim and community impact portion of their rehabilitation. Through a grant given by Goodwill, it is hopeful that the two agencies will be able to serve more people through these programs and continue to help the community by lowering the recidivism rate.

The goal of this partnership is to create a smooth transition back into the community for those being released from prison by helping them find meaningful employment and decrease their chances of reoffending. “One of the major indicators that an offender is going back to prison is if he or she is not working; assisting individuals who are transiting out of prison secure employment is directly related to public safety” said Community Justice Center Executive Director Jim Jones. “This powerful collaborative effort between Goodwill and CJC will not only improve public safety but also increase the number of individuals contributing to their communities (paying taxes), not taking from it!” Community Justice Center will include Goodwill’s Employment Readiness classes within their own programming taught inside the prison while Goodwill continues to serve these individuals through their current DRC and Job Connection programs.