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Drug-Free Workforce Promising Practice
“Substance abuse need not nor should not translate into employment failure. Our
comprehensive, hands-on approach to working with clients and employers creates a win-win
situation for everyone and works especially well for those with addiction history.”
-Tani Mills
Associate Director
Center for Employment Opportunities
The Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) provides job readiness and placement services
to New York City’s former inmates, probationers and others under community supervision.
Between 1,500 and 2,000 ex-offenders enroll in CEO programs each year, and 65 percent are
placed in permanent, unsubsidized employment within three to four months of program
involvement. The largest group of enrollees (approximately 1,100) are graduates of New York
State’s correctional boot camp program known as Shock Incarceration.
According to CEO management, program graduates have desire and incentive to succeed and
have the necessary skills to do so in the workplace. Approximately 90 percent of CEO’s clients
have a history of substance abuse, and through long-standing relationships with substance abuse
treatment providers, CEO’s staff makes referrals when appropriate.
CEO operates two related projects. The Neighborhood Work Project (NWP) offers immediate,
short-term work opportunities and serves as an “employment lab” to prepare participants with
essential skills to rejoin the workforce and restart their lives. The Vocational Development
Program (VDP) provides pre-employment training and placement into permanent, unsubsidized
jobs. Both of these programs are highly structured and supervised and focus on instilling a sense
of purpose in participants as well as job skills, which combined help ensure a successful
transition to stable, productive community life.
In fulfilling its mission, CEO partners with many New York City and state organizations. New
York State partners include the Division of Parole, Division of Probation and Correctional
Services, Division of Criminal Justice Services and the Office of Alcoholism and Substance
Abuse Services. New York City partners include the Office of the Criminal Justice Coordinator,
Department of Youth and Community Development, City Council and the Alcohol Council of New York.
Want to learn more?
Tani Mills
Associate Director
Center for Employment Opportunities
32 Broadway
New York, New York 10004
Phone: (212) 422-4430
E-mail: tmills@ceoworks.org
Internet: www.ceoworks.org
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