PIVOT Baltimore: Women's Reentry Workforce Development Program & EvaluationAn established program, culturally specific to Black women that has been demonstrated effective

When a woman is released from incarceration in Maryland, she often leaves with nothing but the clothes on her back and a few dollars. In Baltimore City, inmates are released at all hours, stepping into East Baltimore often at 2am. Maryland leads the nation in racial disparities in our prison population. According to the Prison Policy Institute, more than 70% of Maryland’s prison population is Black, compared to 31% of the state population, a rate that far surpasses the next closest states. Re-offense rates in Baltimore City are cited at 73% or more. 

The PIVOT women’s reentry & workforce development program was created to provide desperately needed services to women returning from incarceration in Baltimore. PIVOT’s 8-week program is one of the only of its kind in Maryland focusing specifically on the reentry and employment needs of Black women. The curriculum consists of 70+ hours of group learning and 20+ hours of individual case management, personal success coaching and career counseling. PIVOT begins individualized reentry career planning pre-release and continues through employment placement. PIVOT has more than 60 partner organizations including corrections, parole and probation, law enforcement, other reentry providers, nonprofits, employers, transitional housing, mental health and substance use treatment providers to assist with every possible need upon reentry. PIVOT will partner with PREPARE for this project, a parole preparation nonprofit that provides pre-release services and reentry planning as part of the parole process. 

PIVOT will serve 180 women during the course of the project, maintaining the organization’s demonstrated employment placement rate of 70% and reoffense rate of less than 5%. PIVOT will leverage its existing employer partnerships and continue to track employment outcomes. Deliverables include an action plan, a final project report, a research report and a scientific paper published by PIVOT’s program evaluation partner. 

Goals:
1. Provide career training to women while incarcerated and upon return to the community.

Objectives:
1. Expand job readiness assessments, individualized case plans, and employment-related services for incarcerated women that result in improved job readiness, employment attainment and retention.
2. Articulate and implement a robust vision for reentry employment with transitional supports and a focus on employment.

PIVOT seeks priority consideration under 1(A) and 1(B), detailed on pages 12 and 15 of the narrative. PIVOT is a culturally-specific organization serving Black women, therefore no additional subawardee is proposed.

PIVOT’s Category 2 priority consideration response is detailed on narrative pages 4 and 5.