ARCHS' Reentry Community Partnership focuses on job training & lifeskills services for ex-offenders returning to the St. Louis region.

Culinary Arts Training

Automotive/Welding Training

Manufacturing Training

ARCHS' REENTRY Community Partnerships:

St. Louis Alliance for Reentry

ARCHS' 2009 U.S. Department of Justice Grant

ARCHS AWARDED $265,944 IN FEDERAL SECOND CHANCE ACT FUNDING FOR MENTORING PROGRAM (Project not yet active, check back for details)

ST. LOUIS, MO: Area Resources for Community and Human Services (ARCHS) has been awarded $265,944 in funding by the U.S. Department of Justice to create a pre and post prison release mentoring program to serve non-violent offenders set to be released from Missouri prisons. The money is part of the Second Chance Act Mentoring Grant Program. ARCHS was the only grant recipient in Missouri for this particular mentoring funding.

The grant will fund a two-year ARCHS’ Reentry Mentoring Partnership that is expected to serve

280 offenders, age 18-35, who are scheduled for probation and/or parole from the Women’s Eastern Reception Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Vandalia, Missouri and the Missouri Eastern Correctional Center in Pacific, Missouri. It is anticipated that half of the offenders will then voluntarily enroll in the post-release phase of the mentoring partnership.

ARCHS plans to partner with the Missouri Department of Corrections (DOC), Missouri Board of Probation & Parole, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri (Amachi), GUIDES Family Life Center, Helping Others Maintain Stability (HOMS), Humanitri, and the Institute for Peace and Justice to implement the grant.

The ARCHS’ partnership will provide prisoners with pre-release mentoring activities that include family reunification support services.  Post release services include mentoring, job and soft skills training and access to mental health and substance abuse services, housing and other community supports.

In addition to the grant award, ARCHS and its partners will provide an additional $106,442 of in-kind funds to support the grant’s activities. The partnership is designed to enhance the existing pre-release services provided by the DOC.  ARCHS partners with the DOC on several reentry initiatives, including hosting the annual Missouri Reentry Conference and supporting the efforts of the Missouri Eastern Region Reentry Group Effort (MERRGE).

“This is the second federal grant ARCHS has been awarded to address the needs of Greater St. Louis’ ex-offender population,” said Wendell E. Kimbrough, ARCHS’ CEO. “In 2007, ARCHS was awarded a $1.9 million U.S. Department of Labor grant to support ex-offender job training activities. ARCHS exceeded the grant’s goal of serving 488 ex-offenders by reaching more than 640 and placing more than 350 in jobs annually valued at more than $5.6 million. We are proud of the trust that federal funders have placed in ARCHS’ strategic management system.”

ARCHS' 2007 U.S. Department of Labor Grant Results

Goal: To serve 488 ex-offenders. UPDATE October 2008: ARCHS has exceed its goal and has served 640 ex-offenders through its partnerships. 350 have been placed in living wage careers/jobs with a combined economic impact of $5.6 milllion in payroll.

ARCHS' REENTRY Highlights: (October 2007-September 2008):

• 640 Served – (surpassing goal of 488)
• 200 Graduated from Trainings Programs
• 10 Continuing School
• 350 Placed in Jobs
• $5.6 Million (combined annual salaries of those placed in jobs)
• 126 Employers Hiring Participants
• $7 Million Leveraged/In Kind Dollars Provided by Partners
• 5.3% Recidicism Rate (returing to prison)

ARCHS' Dept. of Labor Grant REENTRY Community Partners:

• U.S Department of Labor
• Dr. Brenda Buckley
• Computer Village
• Daruby School
• Employment Connection
• Fathers’ Support Center
• Greenville Federal Prison
• Dr. Ladonna Finch
• Leavenworth Federal Prison
• Marion Federal Prison
• Manufacturing Training Alliance
• MERS Missouri Goodwill
• Mission Gate Christian Ministry
• Missouri Dept. of Corrections
• Missouri Eastern Correctional Center
• Missouri Probation & Parole
• Missouri Reentry Conference Committee
• MOKAN Construction Prep Center
• Nova Source
• Partnership for Success Job Fair
• RANKEN Technical School
• St. Louis Community College
• St. Francis Xavier “College” Church
• Tipton Correctional Center
• U.S. Probation of Eastern Missouri
• Vandalia Correctional Facility

ARCHS’ REENTRY Training Programs:

• Automotive
• Carpentry
• Computers
• Construction
• Culinary Arts & Catering
• Customer Service
• Certified Nursing Assistant
• Electric
• Manufacturing
• Masonry
• Plumbing
• Soft Skills (Resumes, Interviewing, etc.)
• Welding

Post Dispatch Feature

Culinary Training

Automotive Training

Manufacturing Training Story - NPR Radio

Manufaturing Training Story

ARCHS' REENTRY Year One Report

ARCHS in Action (Reentry) Photo Gallery:

ARCHS' REENTRY Automotive/Welding Graduates (April 2008)

Ranken Technical College

ARCHS' REENTRY Culinary Graduates (April 2008)

St. Louis Community College-Forest Park

Graduation Speaker Video

ARCHS' REENTRY Manufacturing Graduates (May 2008)

Manufacturer's Training Alliance

ARCHS' REENTRY Customer Service Graduates (May 2008)

St. Louis Community College

ARCHS’ 2007 DEPT. OF LABOR GRANT BACKGROUND:

ARCHS’ REENTRY Community Partnership focuses on helping former prisoners with job skill development, job placement, job retention and increased earnings resulting in the reduction of recidivism rates (returning to prison).  ARCHS was originally funded by a 2007 U.S. Department of Labor grant.

ARCHS uses case management, mentoring, job training, job placement and registered apprenticeship programs to support ex-offenders.

ARCHS’ focused industry tracks parallel projected job growth reports for the St. Louis region and industries targeted by President Bush’s High-Growth Jobs Initiative (construction, automotive, advanced manufacturing, hospitality, and information technology).

ARCHS builds partnerships with the justice system, community groups, faith-based organizations and businesses. Through ARCHS, participants benefit from resources focusing on employment, education, substance abuse, housing, mental illness, transportation, family/social support and attitudes/cognitive skills.

ARCHS is a planning and advising partner of Missouri Reentry Process (MRP), a national model created in 2005 by the Governor.  Early recidivism results of MRP are encouraging, with a 12-month rate of 24% compared to 35% for those who did not participate in MRP. ARCHS’ REENTRY has achieved a 6-month recidivism rate of 5.3%.

ARCHS co-sponsors, with the Missouri Dept. of Corrections and Dept. of Social Services (FACT) and others, an annual statewide Missouri Reentry Conference. By promoting replicable models and sharing best practices, the conference helps to ensure an effective reentry transition back into the community, family and workforce. ARCHS also partners with the U.S. Eastern Dist of Missouri Probation and Parole to host an annual Partnership for Success Job Fair for Reentry.

Need For Reentry in Greater St. Louis:

The City of St. Louis is home to more than 22,500 ex-offenders who have returned from state and federal prisons.  They are coming back to the same challenges faced prior to incarceration, including poverty, high unemployment, and crime.

Prisoners engaged in the reentry process return to a community where the crime rate is three times greater for the City of St. Louis (13,929 crimes per 100,000 residents) than for Missouri (4,415 crimes per 100,000 residents) (Missouri Department of Public Safety, 2004). St. Louis County crime rates fall below the state rate at 3,220 crimes per 100,000 residents.

For more information contact cares@stlarchs.org.