Submission Deadline: May 24, 2024
The National Reentry Workforce Collaborative (NRWC) invites you to submit a proposal to present at its 2024 Annual Conference, which will be held October 15 – 17, 2024 in Denver, Colorado.
Conference participants include a variety of stakeholders in the reentry workforce field including community-based organizations, business owners, government representatives (including corrections), reentry coalitions and councils, advocacy groups, non-profits, intermediaries, and workforce development boards. The conference will include both submitted and invited presentations.
NRWC members and conference attendees have expressed greater interest in sessions that provide opportunities to discuss issues with their peers and that have tangible takeaways and best practices. Session proposals that are based on original research and data, demonstrate innovative strategies or programs, highlight unique partnerships or collaborations that advance the reentry workforce field, and/or include multiple stakeholders will be given preference. While proposals from vendors or companies are welcome, those that merely promote services or products will not be accepted. Presenters are strongly encouraged to provide resources and/or reference materials attendees can take home with them or obtain through electronic means such as: checklists, forms, best practice guides.
Continue reading to learn more about the conference tracks, requested presentation topics, and view the proposal submission form.
Presentations are generally 60 minutes in length and may take the form of speaker-led presentation, moderated panel, or facilitated discussions/ roundtables. Accepted sessions will be scheduled along four programming tracks:
Employment is a key mitigating factor that can break the cycle of recidivism. This track highlights examples, best practices, and case studies where organizations have built transformative relationships with employers and opened doors to career and economic mobility for people impacted by the justice system.
There are thousands of legal & regulatory restrictions that limit or prohibit people convicted of crimes from accessing employment, business and occupational licensing, housing, voting, education, and other rights, benefits, and opportunities. This track will cover topics related to policies and practices in the field that are removing barriers to opportunity for people who are impacted by the justice system.
This track highlights examples, case studies, strategies, and approaches used to implement evidence-informed practices to strengthen program delivery and the skills practitioners need to effectively develop and implement programs. Additionally, it delves into methods to build program and organizational capacity to enhance measurable outcomes and increase our collective impact. Sessions will explore new and innovative approaches to pushing the envelope in the reentry workforce.
In order for us to build a strong ecosystem that streamlines a continuum of care and opens opportunities for programs to gain access to resources, strong partnerships between systems and communities are essential. This track will elevate the practices and approaches that are transforming ecosystems and creating feedback loops to address the needs and opportunities within the community for high-stake decision-makers.
While all presentation topics are encouraged and accepted, special consideration will be given to proposals that speak to a variety of stakeholders. Please click on the headings below to view a complete list of requested presentation topics.
- FCH participant engagement & retention
- Coaching employers through the change management process of implementing FCH
- Key laws and guidelines that assist FCH
- Example of an employer who has successfully changed their hiring policies to include FCH
- Data and research on the impact of FCH
- How to partner more effectively (e.g. corporations & CBOs)
- Partnering with postsecondary institutions in this work
- Ways to collaborate with and within incarceration centers
- Collaborative partnerships with government agencies (integrating services)
- How to collaborate when competing for resources
- Technology supporting reentry workforce/fair-chance hiring organizations, programs, etc.
- Tech education for justice-impacted people (shrinking the digital divide)
- Innovative solutions to develop resumes and match skills with employment requirements
- Technological solutions that connect justice-impacted job seekers with supports and job opportunities
- Financial Planning for organizations, programs
- Best practices in researching, applying for, and/or executing grants
- Federal Grants for Vocational Training
- Content that highlights and amplifies voices of those with lived experience
- Leveraging lived expertise to advance the field
- Perspectives on navigating challenges and systems upon re-entry (and what can, has, needs to change to improve outcomes)
- Justice Impacted entrepreneurs & business leaders
- Ethical program management
- Starting a nonprofit in this field (are you filling a gap or reinventing the wheel?)
- Organizational & leadership development
- Supporting staff (addressing vicarious trauma and other stressors of the job)
- Scholarly research on reentry and fair chance hiring
- How the measure the true impact of a high performing reentry program
- Determining best outcomes to track
- Research collaborations/partnerships
- Sealing & expunging records
- Access to care (primary medical, behavioral and oral health) and wellness support
- Transportation & mobility
- Housing (transitional housing, dual housing/workforce assistance)
- Housing instability & homelessness
- Education and programming inside corrections facilities (how to implement, examples of programs, data demonstrating outcomes)
- Internet Access in Prison
- Prison/jail programming for reentry readiness
- Successful apprenticeships in prisons that lead to meaningful employment upon release
- Soft Skills Education Pre-Release
- Prerelease interventions
- What does a solution to mass incarceration look like?
- The future of social service and workforce
- Youth in the early stage before incarceration
- Community education and engagement
- What’s not working? Examples of programs/initiatives/partnerships that missed the mark
- Policy change & strategies to advance the field
- Lobbying and legislation (examples & best practices for engaging the political system to change laws and move the needle, e.g. Ban the Box legislation)
- How to work with the gang associated, or affiliated population
- Advocating for people with more stigmatized offenses
- Trauma-informed approaches to supporting the reentry workforce
- Finding a livable wage for people with hard to employ backgrounds
- Apprenticeships and Work-Based Learning
- The faith community/spiritual wellbeing and reentry
- Economic Mobility
- Youth voices in programming and engagement
- ACES
- Market trends, emerging industries the field should know about
- Intersectional approaches to supporting reentry workforce
We invite you to share this call for proposals with your colleagues and in your networks. A downloadable one-page info sheet is available here. You can also view the proposal submission form here to help prepare your proposal information before you submit. Please remember that all proposals must be submitted via the live form accessible via the link at the bottom of this page.
Please note that presenters will be able to register for the conference at a discounted rate. Presenters are responsible for all registration fees and associated conference costs. Impacted Speaker Funding is available; the application for funding will open in June 2024. Proposals must be submitted online via the 2024 Call for Proposals Form (link below). Questions may be directed to Virginia Shapland, at [email protected].