City officials estimate that over one fifth of Philadelphia’s population has been incarcerated and holds a criminal record.1
As citizens return home from the prison system, they face major roadblocks in securing employment, accessing social services, and navigating a social, economic, and political system that largely rejects and stigmatizes them long after they have served their sentence.2
FRP sees workforce development as a peace-building and community healing initiative.
Friends Rehabilitation Program, Transforming Lives, Changing Communities (TLCC), is a holistic wraparound service which supports successful reentry efforts for justice-involved individuals. Services provided include, but are not limited to, housing assistance, workforce development, mentoring, family reunification and numerous outreach/linkage support opportunities. TLCC is a trauma-focused program whose mission is to serve as a change agent for reentry while building safe and thriving communities.
1 City Council, Chief Clerk’s Office. 2011. BILL NO. 110111-A (As Amended on Floor 3/24/2011)
http://www.nelp.org/content/uploads/2015/03/Philadelphia-Ordinance.pdf
2Alexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. New York, NY: New Press, 2010