My Way Out Inc

Who are the people you serve with your mission?

My Way Out creates equitable economic opportunities by reducing barriers to employment through technology and partnerships with second-chance employers. While other employment programs focus on bringing employers and employees together, MWO focuses on developing job opportunities, placement, and retention. Justice-impacted individuals are 50% less likely to get a call back for an interview. Gaps in employment, first names, zip codes, and phone prefixes are used by employers to filter out applicants. Our technology creates a contextual, strengths-based, anti-bias profile that removes potential barriers. Progress is tracked and managed via self-learning mobile app and CRM System where stakeholders communicate and stay engaged in the reentry and employment journey.

How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?

Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person), Case management notes, Community meetings/Town halls, The Way Out app,

How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals,

What significant change resulted from feedback?

The first change that we made based on the feedback from our justice-involved jobseekers and our partner reentry organizations was to be able to respond to our clients within 24 hours. Also, based on the feedback that we have received from our justice-involved people, we started working with The Way Out, which is breaking the cycle of incarceration through technology by developing and creating a CRM System to assist Reentry Service Providers in managing and tracking their clients as well in developing a self-learning mobile app to assist justice-involved individuals to track their support needs, personal development, and professional development.

With whom is the organization sharing feedback?

The people we serve, Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners,

How has asking for feedback from the people you serve changed your relationship?

As justice impacted individuals of color ourselves from marginalized and underserved communities, we know that we have not had a voice nor a choice in decisions that impact our quality of life, our access to and equity within employment, housing, transportation, and educational opportunities. Having a voice and an opportunity to share your views and experiences to shape our respective futures instills confidence and hope in what may lie ahead. Collecting both qualitative and quantitative data from our program participants and providers allows us to identify gaps in services, areas for additional focus and changes in priorities, and how to further leverage and serve as a catalyst for change that ultimately improves the services and the outcomes of the justice-impacted individuals.

Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded,

What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection,