Page 9 - 2019 Spring Conference Ebook
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POWERFUL PARTNERSHIPS
Enhancing Program Services • Reintegration Nights, where people can learn
through the Development of literacy skills and meet with community
partners who can help address some of the
Community Partnerships challenges they are facing after returning to
Speaker: Dennis Ritchie, Career Services Manager, their communities.
Goodwill Industries of Kentucky, Inc.
• Second Chance Job Fairs, where employers
Dennis Ritchie’s deepest passion revealed itself meet with people who have criminal histories
after he made painful mistakes, costing him to gauge their interest in employment.
his law license, his marriage and his family. Yet,
it’s because of past errors that Ritchie, career Ritchie emphasized that it is important to find
services manager of Goodwill Industries of community partners that are targeting the same
Kentucky’s LifeLaunch program, helped build people as your Goodwill. For example, Medicaid
a robust reentry initiative that combines job providers have emerged as great partners because
readiness, soft skills and occupational training they want to engage the same demographic as
for participants with the larger capacity and Goodwill.
resources that community partners bring. “Once you have a program, you then want to
Over the next decade, Kentucky’s prison costs have sustainability. You want to provide the same
are anticipated to rise to more than $600 million quality of service that we were providing with the
annually. With a skilled staff of mostly career
counselors, the Goodwill’s LifeLaunch program grant money outside of that. How do you do that?
provides support to people with criminal With community partners.”
backgrounds in need of housing, transportation,
computer and consumer literacy skills and Questions from the Audience:
support. But, especially in recent years, the
Goodwill has widely expanded its community Q: What was the most challenging barrier when
partnerships, which have helped move the going out and building community partners?
organization from job skills provider to a pipeline
of services. A: Trust. Building up trust is key.
Q: What was the initial cost to get the process set
“In 2018, we make more than 25 relationships up, and how much does it cost now?
with key community partners in our reentry A: The grant helped us gear up, but there’s unseen
program. Every single one is necessary to build costs. Even if you have a grant, expect 15 percent
in additional costs added to the top of that.
your program and do what you need to do.”
– Dennis Ritchie, Goodwill Industries of Q: What was key to your service provision?
Kentucky A: SoftSkills Academy was key to service. Taking
After building its reentry program with a U.S. SoftSkills to the street, taking it to community
Department of Labor grant, the Goodwill partners and building up those relationships.
has made a concerted effort to establish
partnerships with organizations and agencies
by winning their trust and delivering what's
promised. This has allowed them to develop Watch, Read, Learn | Curated Content
innovative program services, such as: 1. View the Presentation
2. MyGoodwill Reentry Services Community
• An Expungement Clinic, where people can 3. Goodwill’s LifeLaunch Program: Learn more
begin the process of having their criminal by contacting Jennifer Lynch, Adult Reentry
barriers expunged from their records. Services Program Manager, GII
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