FHI 360 leads the Compass Rose Collaborative (CRC), a project funded by the U.S. Department of Labor to improve the education and employment outcomes of young adults, ages 18 through 24, after involvement in the U.S. criminal justice system.
The CRC works with partners in communities with high rates of poverty and crime, including:
- City of Albany Department of Youth and Workforce Services, Albany, NY
- City of Los Angeles Economic and Workforce Development Department, Los Angeles, CA
- The RightWay Foundation, Los Angeles, CA
- CommunityWorks, Inc., Denver and Colorado Springs, CO
- Greater Louisville Workforce Development Board, Inc., Louisville, KY
- Mayor’s Office of Employment Development, Baltimore, MD
- National Center on Institutions and Alternatives, Baltimore, MD, Charlotte, NC, and Philadelphia, PA
- Office of Workforce Development’s Youth Options Unlimited Division, Boston, MA
- Our Piece of the Pie, Inc., Hartford, CT
- Phoenix Youth and Family Services, Inc., southeast Arkansas
- St. Louis Agency on Training and Employment, St. Louis, MO
The collaborative supports young participants in partner organizations by:
- Implementing a program model that focuses on providing youth with: 1) support services, including assistance obtaining housing, clothing, food, transportation and counseling; 2) legal services; 3) work readiness, preparation and job placement; and 4) educational services
- Creating lasting community-based partnerships that empower young adults beyond their participation in the program
- Documenting and replicating effective practices in communities through FHI 360’s peer-learning communities and the development of tools, resources and webinars
In addition, the collaborative is developing a young adult leadership council with program participants who will provide a youth voice to the program. The CRC is developing a pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship curricula that will launch across the United States to train young people for youth-serving roles and that will transition participants to careers such as case managers, mentors and childcare workers. And, the CRC partners with community colleges to improve access to education and workforce training.
Meet some of the participants and instructors in the Compass Rose Collaborative’s partner organizations:
- Not just an instructor: Mentoring young adults experiencing reentry
- ‘I refuse to be another statistic’: From incarcerated young adult to community leader
- Not just a kitchen: Building skills to last a lifetime
Hear from FHI 360’s Justice Programs team, which manages the Compass Rose Collaborative:
The Compass Rose Collaborative is 100% funded by the Department of Labor in the amount of $4.5M. No other sources of funding support this program.
