Center for Employment Opportunities

The Center for Employment Opportunities is dedicated to providing immediate, effective, and comprehensive employment services to men and women with recent criminal convictions. Our vision is that anyone with a recent criminal history who wants to work has the preparation and support needed to find a job and stay connected to the workforce.

CEO began as a demonstration project of the Vera Institute of Justice in the 1970s and has grown to become the nation’s leading employment reentry organization. Since 1996, CEO has secured over 20,000 private-sector job placements for formerly incarcerated individuals across the country. In 2009, CEO began replicating its program model across the U.S., with Buffalo as the first expansion site. CEO currently serves more than 4,500 program participants each year across 18 cities in six states.

Since opening its doors in 2009, CEO Buffalo has served roughly 1,500 men and women returning home from incarceration or on probation, equipping them with the basic workplace skills needed to compete in the permanent labor market. CEO Buffalo has made over 1,100 full-time job placements to date in industries as diverse as food service, retail/wholesale, manufacturing, human services, construction, maintenance, and warehousing. Data from CEO’s most recent fiscal year show that 62% of Buffalo-area participants placed reached the 180-day retention mark – an outcome that is impressive given the barriers faced by this population.

CEO’s program is designed to reduce both systemic and behavioral barriers to employment among individuals involved in the criminal justice system. CEO targets its services to individuals who face the highest risk of returning to prison and have the greatest need for employment services. The program ensures that individuals under criminal justice supervision are prepared to re-enter the workforce and seize the opportunity to build healthier, more productive lives. Our comprehensive program model includes four primary components:

1. Pathway to Employment (P2E): P2E is a customized four-day class taught by CEO’s P2E Instructor/Job Coach. The class uses Cognitive Behavioral Intervention techniques to prepare individuals to enter or re-enter the workplace and ensures that participants are prepared to begin working for CEO. In interactive sessions, participants learn best practices in creating a resume, filling out job applications, and answering questions about their conviction(s) in interviews.
2. Paid Transitional Employment: After graduating from P2E, participants move into transitional employment on a CEO work crew performing maintenance, landscaping, and other services to a range of institutional partners. Participants are closely guided by CEO Site Supervisors and receive daily on-the-job training and feedback on their performance. Participants are paid daily for work done on transitional work crews.
3. Job Coaching/Job Development: Once a week during the transitional job phase, participants return to CEO for job coaching and development. Job Coaches continue to work with participants on job-readiness through interview practice and resume composition.  Business Account Managers leverage participants’ marketable skills and transitional job experience to match them with local businesses’ hiring needs.
4. Retention Services: For one full year after initial job placement, participants receive workplace counseling, crisis management, and career planning from CEO to ensure that participants retain employment and mitigate any job-related challenges that may arise. As an added benefit, CEO provides ‘Rapid Rewards,’ an incentive reward system that keeps participants engaged as they key employment retention milestones.