San Diego Second Chance Program
Helping you find your way to self-sufficiency
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Since 1980, California has built 23 prisons and one college. Over incarceration has led to skyrocketing taxpayer costs and no real reduction in recidivism rates. 67% of people who "graduate" from prison return within one to three years. The alternative is to provide people coming out of incarceration with the tools, knowledge, resources and support they need to achieve self-sufficiency and in doing so, help build a more promising future as well as a safer community. Second Chance offers job readiness and life skills training and support services to help individuals overcome the many challenges they face and to become active, contributing members of our community. We offer safe, comfortable transitional sober living housing to help people on their journey to sobriety. We assist at-risk youth ages 14-21 - many of whom are justice involved - develop the skills, knowledge and self-confidence to develop into well adjusted responsible adults.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Job Readiness Training
Job Readiness Training is an intense, four-week program where participants acquire critical job skills—positive, professional attitudes, punctuality, dedication, teamwork, commitment, and increased self-esteem—helping them to find and retain employment. Participants include ex-offenders returning to the community and other low-income adults with barriers to successful employment. Those barriers may include histories of substance abuse, domestic violence, low education equivalencies, lack of employment history and mental health needs, among others.
Second Chance Youth Garden
The Second Chance Youth Garden is an eight-week program combining hands-on urban farming and classroom learning. Youth earn a weekly stipend and gain job readiness skills.
San Diego County Reentry Court
The Second Chance Reentry program provides outpatient alcohol and drug treatment, case management, mental health counseling, and drug testing services to offenders who have been referred to Reentry Court. Reentry Court is a County-sponsored, court-supervised program with comprehensive treatment and case management for non-violent offenders who: as a result of a substance-induced and/or co-occurring mental health disorder illness, enter into the criminal justice system, and are at further risk to go through jails and/or subsequently into prisons; have substance-induced and/or co-occurring mental health disorder illnesses, and who fail to successfully complete terms of probation/parole; have substance-induced and/or co-occurring mental health disorder illnesses, and could be diverted from jails into treatment.
Second Chance Job Center
The Second Chance Job Center is a team-based case management program. Partnering with the San Diego Sheriff’s Department and San Diego County Probation and the San Diego Workforce Partnership, Second Chance staff delivers employment services at the East Mesa Reentry Facility. The Job Center expands upon services already offered by local government, community corrections and workforce development agencies by uniting resources to break the cycle of recidivism, build stronger communities and promote public safety.
The Job Center offers internet access to select websites for job search and provide suits for inmates to wear as they practice interviewing. In addition, the Job Center builds on vocational programs already available at the facility, like barista training at an onsite coffee cart, working in a bakery or in the print shop.
STRIVE Future Leaders Education Advancement Partnership (FLEAP)
STRIVE Future Leaders Education Advancement Partnership (FLEAP) focuses on supporting and addressing the educational and employment barriers faced by court-involved youth while helping them attain life skills and in-demand occupational and employment skills needed to obtain livable wage jobs.
The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)
The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) program serves youth who are from low-income households, at risk of dropping out of school or transitioning from foster care or justice system facilities. In collaboration with the San Diego Workforce Partnership, WIOA includes supportive services, individual service strategies, case management, educational services, work-readiness training, work preparation and youth development services.
Youthful Offender Rehabilitation Program (YORP)
The Youthful Offender Rehabilitation Program (YORP) uses evidence-based curricula and cognitive behavioral training and interventions to aid incarcerated youth. The program is designed to meet the needs of the county’s most severe and chronic juvenile offenders. Approximately 10% of the juvenile offender population has either failed out of the county’s other programs or has committed a level of crime that necessitates an extended period of incarceration.
Sober Living Houses
Second Chance operates four sober living properties. Our goals are to foster personal responsibility, restore self-esteem and self-confidence, and eliminate isolation by creating a community atmosphere – all with the ultimate goal of staying sober while transitioning to independent living.
Where we work
Awards
Hero 2007
CNN
Neighborhood Excellence Initiative Awards 2008
Bank of America Foundation
Four Star Charity 2016
4 Star Charity Navigator
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of website sessions
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Total number of acres of area indirectly controlled under cultivation
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents, At-risk youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Second Chance Youth Garden
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Our two urban farm sites are located in low income neighborhoods and total a half acre of cultivated land.
Total revenue of target crop sold
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents, Ethnic and racial groups, At-risk youth
Related Program
Second Chance Youth Garden
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of unique website visitors
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of new website visitors
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of new clients within the past 12 months
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Incarcerated people, Unemployed people
Related Program
Job Readiness Training
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of participants who gain employment
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Young adults, Incarcerated people
Related Program
Job Readiness Training
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Average wage of clients served (in dollars)
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Young adults, Incarcerated people
Related Program
Job Readiness Training
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of people on the organization's email list
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Second Chance focuses all its programs on reducing recidivism and helping adults and youth achieve self-sufficiency through employment and education.
We define self-sufficiency by the following four outcomes:
1. Financial – Has basic financial literacy and sustainable employment
2. Housing – Has access to safe and stable housing
3. Health – Accesses available healthcare
4. Resiliency – Has life goals and a plan to achieve them
Second Chance addresses the multiple challenges faced by people coming out of incarceration and provides the support they need to become active, contributing members of our community. Our goal is not only to change the lives of the people we serve, but to transform the communities we live in by helping make them safer for all residents.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Our overarching program strategies:
1. Ensure we have a highly trained team of professionals who are equipped to serve the participants.
2. Develop and implement impact measurements for all programs in accordance with our mission.
3. Base our programs on latest trends in research and evidence to ensure programs are effective and appropriate.
4. All program services will include science-led substance use disorder and behavioral treatment interventions.
5. To develop and maintain strategic partnerships with public and private organizations that strengthen our mission and meet the needs of those we serve.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Second Chance has 25 years experience providing services to people coming out of incarceration, and is regarded as the community's leading resource for people struggling to achieve self-sufficiency and rebuild their lives. Our professional staff has extensive experience serving the justice-involved population, and a deep commitment to helping them change their lives:
Our Job Readiness Training programs helps participants develop the skills and self-confidence to successfully navigate a job search. Reentry Court, a collaborative court/alternative sentencing program, helps justice-involved individuals successfully transition to their community.
Our youth programs address the needs of low-income at-risk youth ages 14-21, most of whom are justice involved and are at risk of dropping out of school.
Our transitional sober living houses provide safe, comfortable and supportive living environment for people coming out of incarceration.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Second Chance has served more than 5,000 people through our Job Readiness Training program, and helped more than 3,000 people coming out of incarceration attain self-sufficiency. In addition to helping them find work, Second Chance has helped provide these individuals with a wide range of support services to enable them to regain their footing: accessing medical benefits,
Our next steps are to continue to meet the growing need of people seeking a "second chance", and to provide support for people coming out of incarceration in North County by expanding our services in that area. One of our key goals is also to provide vocational training to ensure that people have a pathway to higher wages.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
San Diego Second Chance Program
Board of directorsas of 06/26/2023
Stephen Chin
Sharp Health Plan
Term: 2016 -
M.G. Kristian
Mitchell International
Bennet Greenwald
The Greenwald Company
Stephen Chin
Sharp Health Plan
Judy Lawton
The Lawton Group
Robert Ito
Ito Girard & Associates
Debbie Pederson-Nunez
Intend, Inc.
Jonathan Schultz
Engage FT
Mitch Bradley
Sycuan Casino
Reed Vickerman
Contemporary Museum of Art - La Jolla
Gary Rudolph
Sullivan Hill
Alexis Karpf
UCSD
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? No -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
No data
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
No data
Transgender Identity
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data