Hear the stories of Missourians who have succeeded at one of the toughest tasks they’ve faced: rebuilding their lives after release from prison. Meet the people behind the programs that helped ensure success.
Joseph Johnson went to prison at age 16, with few life skills and no job experience. Two decades later, the nonprofit group Connections to Success prepared him for life outside, providing 60 hours of intensive life coaching and job preparation. Equipped with unshakable determination and supported by the Connections team, less than a year after release, Johnson manages a Kansas City restaurant, works in security, owns his own car, and has a new lease on life.
APPLIE: About Persons with Past Legal Issues in Employment
Through the APPLIE program, Missourians incarcerated at Ozark Correctional Center learn job readiness skills and complete on-site job interviews in preparation for employment after release.
Women's Fulton Community Supervision Center
In 2017, Missouri had the fastest-growing population of incarcerated women in the United States. Since then, the Missouri Department of Corrections has made it a priority to address the specific needs of women involved in the criminal justice system and to give them the tools they need to stay out of prison. Remodeled and reopened as an all-female facility in February 2019, the Fulton Community Supervision Center provides gender-responsive and trauma-informed techniques to better serve women under supervision in a rehabilitative environment. In a four-phase program tailored to meet each resident’s assessed needs, women tackle intensive employment-readiness prep work; on-site substance use disorder services; cognitive interventions; housing plans; and family reunification.
