The Massachusetts Access to Recovery Program (MA-ATR) has designed a program that is helping participants prepare for employment. It’s working!
Recognizing that employment is positively associated with success in re-entry, recovery, and successful completion of substance abuse treatment, Massachusetts created a unique program to help people re-entering their communities prepare for and obtain employment. The Career Building Initiative was initiated in Grant Year 2 of the MA-ATR Program (summer 2012) and continues today, in the program’s fourth year. Based on preliminary findings, this popular program, completed by nearly 70 percent of enrollees, may well be increasing their odds of securing employment. Those who participated in the CBI program experienced an improvement in their rate of employment that far exceeded non-participants.
Employment matters! ATR participants who were employed at program intake were:
- Less likely to be involved with the criminal justice system
- More likely to have stable housing
- More likely to be connected with family and friends
ATR has developed a program brief describing the design and initial outcomes of the Career Building Initiative. Topics addressed include:
- The importance of employment to re-entry and recovery,
- The major design elements of the CBI program,
- Early CBI results, and
- Key learnings and emerging opportunities.
Learn more about CBI through our Available Services page.