WhenPeopleWork recognized for efforts to help former inmates
At Ten Forward, we choose which clients to work with based on a variety of factors, including the project's potential for social impact.
WhenPeopleWork embodies this priority. The Connecticut-based startup "provides a simple, fair, transparent and reliable process for employers and employees" that matches formerly incarcerated individuals with gainful employment, based on their training, skills and experience.
Recently, two different publications highlighted WhenPeopleWork's efforts. Both articles discuss the impact joblessness has on former inmates' likelihood to end up back behind bars:
Finding employment is one of the most important steps to assimilating back into society. Unfortunately, studies have shown that anywhere between 60 and 75 percent of ex-offenders are still unemployed a year after their release.
- Kimberly Lawson, VICE
Enter WhenPeopleWork.
Similar to a dating website, WhenPeopleWork uses an algorithm to help match job seekers to employers. In this case, however, the criteria are specific to someone who's been incarcerated, such as curfews, fence-based restrictions on work and geographic restrictions. Family members can sign on as proxies for job seekers, and because the system can be made available in prisons and jails, employers can be matched with people who are still incarcerated and nearing release.
- Kimberly Lawson, VICE
We're proud to work with companies like WhenPeopleWork; congratulations on their well-deserved recognition!
Read more:
- "This New Jobs Platform Matches Ex-Offenders With Employers" (VICE)
- "Activists: Employing formerly incarcerated people benefits society" (New York Amsterdam News)