Giving Compass' Take:

• Co-op Tightshift Laboring Cooperative is a D.C. based organization aimed at helping formerly incarcerated individuals with job opportunities.

• How can organizations that have successful models share their best practices? How can we further reduce stigmas by normalizing criminal records within job applications?

• Read about other organizations that are helping formerly incarcerated individuals through feedback methods. 

It’s practically common knowledge that the U.S. imprisons an inordinately high percentage of its citizens. Existing as the policy-making hub behind these disturbing trends, Washington, D.C., is also home to the highest incarceration rate in the country. Thankfully, D.C.-based co-op Tightshift Laboring Cooperative is aiming to change the tide by providing ex-prisoners with work training and employment opportunities.

Tightshift works to dissolve the stigma associated with a criminal record. Those who join the co-op learn practical skills and participate in the organization’s cleaning, landscaping, and moving businesses. Those who complete a paid 1,000-hour work training program are then invited to buy into the co-op and become co-owners themselves.

With the help of supportive family members, Reid eventually found a reliable place to stay and met his future Tightshift co-founder, Allison Basile. From there, things started to click.

Read the full article about reducing recidivism rates by Kate Ryan at GOOD Magazine.