Reentry Advocacy

Location: Syracuse

Reentry Advocacy works with individuals who face barriers to employment, housing, education, and licensing as a result of their involvement with the criminal justice system. Reentry Advocacy utilizes state laws which help a person avoid or minimize the collateral consequences of a criminal conviction and seeks to make legal protections more effective.

Services include:

  • assistance obtaining official criminal history records (“rap sheets”) and reviewing these records so participants understand what their criminal conviction history is;
  • assistance identifying and correcting mistakes on criminal history records;
  • assistance applying for applicable sealing of certain conviction records;
  • assistance applying for Certificates of Rehabilitation (including Certificates of Relief from Disabilities and Certificates of Good Conduct);
  • advocacy to administrative licensing agencies (such as Department of Health or Department of Education);
  • counseling with regard to legal rights and obligations in searching for employment with a criminal record; and
  • strategizing about the most effective way to talk to prospective employers about criminal justice involvement.

All participants in Reintegration Services programs have free access to CCA’s Reentry Advocacy.

For more information on Reentry Advocacy, please contact:

Melissa Castor, Director of Reentry Advocacy
Tel: 315-422-5638 ext. 230
Email: mcastor@communityalternatives.org

Reintegration Services

Location: Syracuse

The programs and services provided through Reintegration Services in Syracuse are designed to assist justice-involved persons (including those with an incarceration history) to more fully integrate into the community. Services are provided to those who are 18 years of age or older and living in Syracuse or Onondaga County. Specific programming for young adults aged 18 to 24 is available.

Reintegration Services offers two distinct but interrelated sets of programs and services:

CCA’s Line Cook Training Program

Jail-Based Programs

Individuals who are residing in the Onondaga County Correctional Facility (OCCF) in Jamesville, NY may be eligible to enroll in our services at OCCF three to four months prior to release. Services at the jail include substance use assessment, participation in Cognitive Behavioral Training groups, and transitional planning. Individuals who enroll while at OCCF may be eligible to participate in additional services (recovery support, employment, housing) upon release. Our jail-based programs serve approximately 80 to 90 people annually.

For more information on our jail-based programs, please contact:

Camryn LeRoux, Project Director, Recruitment and Enrollment
Tel: 315-422-5638 x235
Email: cleroux@communityalternatives.org

Workforce Programs

Reintegration Services also offers community-based workforce programs that train justice-involved individuals to prepare for, find, keep, and advance in gainful employment. Services include connection to education, recovery support, job readiness training, job placement, vocational training, job retention support, employment support groups as well as access to our professional clothes closet and computer lab. Reintegration Services serves about 150 people per year via our workforce programs.

For more information on our workforce programs, please contact:

Camryn LeRoux, Project Director, Recruitment and Enrollment
Tel: 315-422-5638 x235
Email: cleroux@communityalternatives.org

Additionally, individuals interested in enrolling in our workforce programs may come to CCA (115 East Jefferson St., Suite 300) Monday through Thursday, 9am – 12pm, for a one-on-one screening to determine eligibility and next steps.

Jail-based services are funded by grants from the NYS Department of Criminal Justice Services and US Department of Health and Human Services/Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Workforce services are funded by grants from the US Department of Labor, the United Way of Central NY, and a NYS DOE Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Title II grant through OCM BOCES.

CCA’s Line Cook Training Program