Hoffman Hall, a GEO Reentry Services residential reentry center in Philadelphia, held a successful information session earlier this year. The session was designed to assist reentrants with information provided by community partners regarding vocational and occupational opportunities after release.
Hoffman Hall provides evidence-based reentry programming to a population of men referred from the Philadelphia Prison System and the Bucks County Department of Corrections.
“At Hoffman Hall, we recognize the importance of establishing community partnerships to assist reentrants in a successful return to the community,” John Cunningham, director of Hoffman Hall, said. “The community partners’ information provided reentrants with knowledge of vocational opportunities that are available to them before release, helping establish goals, create a plan and anticipate employment opportunities.”
Representatives were invited to Hoffman Hall from the Mayor’s Office of Reintegration Services, Construction Apprentice Preparatory Program, Energy Coordinating Agency, and the Philadelphia Technician Training Institute. These representatives donated their time and effort to present information on education, skill-building and job opportunities available to reentrants upon their release.
“Our reentrants learned so much from this first information session presented by community partners,” Lorraine Watson, GED coordinator at Hoffman Hall, said. “Each willingly remained after the sessions to participate in the question and answer portion of the program. We are very proud to see reentrants willing to participate and make plans for a positive future.”
Hoffman Hall was awarded the 2016 Innovation in Corrections Award from the American Correctional Association for distinguished programming in resident education and demonstrated results in reducing recidivism.
Read more about GEO Reentry’s approach to residential reentry.