Corey Garrett knows the routine well. A few minutes into a job interview, the felony question comes up and he explains his drug charges. The conversation ends with "We'll call you," but he knows the call won't come.

Meanwhile, rent is owed at his transitional house and parole payment is due. If he falls short, he has violated parole and his belongings are waiting for him outside, fears pushing him toward the crack cocaine trade — both selling and using — that led to his original incarceration. And the cycle continues....

.....Project Return, a 35-year-old Nashville nonprofit that helps former inmates prepare for the workforce, is more than a year into operating its own temp agency, a social enterprise, called PRO Employment. PRO Employment (Project Return Opportunity for Employment) helps individuals develop recent work experience, generate a base of references and demonstrate reliability on the job with the goal of securing long-term jobs three months later. Since July 2013, 100 men and women have been employed through PRO Employment at six Middle Tennessee companies, largely manufacturers. They fill three different shifts, seven days a week....

.....PRO Employment is modeled after a transitional jobs program run by the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) in New York. A 2012 study by MDRC, a nonpartisan social policy research organization, found that the transitional program increased employment significantly when a worker was early in the follow up period but the effectiveness waned over longer periods. It also found that those who enrolled in CEO within three months of their release were less likely to be arrested and had lower recidivism rates by as much as 22 percent. The organization was most effective with those who were at a higher risk of recidivism and the program resulted in lower criminal justice costs, according to the study....

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