Cuyahoga County Performance

Strategic Priorities

6.5 Remove specific barriers to employment for qualified candidates
- Every resident is on a path to upward income mobility and career advancement

About this measure

This measure provides updates on programs and projects being completed by the Cuyahoga County Office of Reentry.

The Office of Reentry provides updates on a quarterly basis.

Why is this important?

Many policies designed to assist the reentry population fail to address barriers and the stigma caused by having a criminal record. Obtaining employment, making a decent wage, and having access to meaningful job skills training are critical components needed to achieve a successful reentry from incarceration. This targeted population faces many challenging situations, and many are very limited in areas such as education, work experience, and life skills that greatly impact their employability and earnings capacity. Research indicates that having access to genuine employment opportunities and possessing useful skills is key to decreasing recidivism and reducing crime.

Data Source

Cuyahoga County Office of Reentry

Performance Target

This page is a milestone measure, meaning updates take the form of qualitative, project-based narratives to provide additional details related to core County programs and services. Measure performance is impacted by a number of factors, including funding levels, strategic priorities, community need, and policy decisions made at the federal, state, and local level. Performance targets are not set for milestone measures, but timely reporting of updates is important.

How are we making an impact?

Q1-22

The Cuyahoga County Office of Reentry hosted a Central Surge Expungement and Resource Fair on Saturday, March 26, 2022 at Friendly Inn Settlement to help individuals get the legal help and resources they need to start getting reacclimated back into society.

Volunteers from the Cuyahoga County Office of the Public Defender, Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, and the Law Clinics of Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland State University, respectively, were present to offer general legal advice and counsel eligible expungement applicants through the process. A total of 45 individuals attended the event, which was free and open to the public. Of the individuals in attendance approximately 90% (40 individuals) were connected to legal help to begin discussions on possible expungement.

In addition to legal help, more than a dozen County agencies and community groups were onsite to provide resources for education, employment, housing, food assistance and medical care. Participating resource fair vendors included: