My Way Out Inc
Your mistakes do not define who you are--but what you do afterwards
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
In 2021, over 63,000 individuals in our community were on probation, parole and extended supervision. Without employment and support services, 90% may return to prison within two years. Wisconsin imprisons Black and Brown residents at a higher rate than any other state highlighting long-standing disparities. The Latinx co-founders and leaders of My Way Out, as justice-impacted individuals, represent hope to others when little exists and a belief in a world where returning citizens can succeed, flourish and prosper. My Way Out prepares justice-impacted individuals for reentry by addressing causes of recidivism, providing conditions for healing, reducing social stigma, dismantling inequities, and eliminating barriers to employment, housing, food security and healthcare. My Way Out develops thriving communities focused on equitable economic opportunities for marginalized individuals with the voice of diversity and inclusion as a catalyst for systemic change.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Reaching In & Helping Out
If you have a family member who is currently incarcerated and within 18 months of being released, My Way Out can start to assist in their reentry process. My Way Out will assign a Reentry Support Partner, pre-board them, and start working with them on a personalized reentry plan.
Bridging The Tech Gap For Returning Citizens (BTGRC)
Bridging the Gap for Returning Citizens (BTGRC) and Financial Literacy. BTGRC focuses on welcoming justice-impacted individuals back into our community and helping them navigate today's technology ecosystem.
Participants will be welcomed home and introduced to the program by My Way Out, whose platform is "To empower and enrich the lives of justice-impacted individuals, by bringing together community resources, supportive service providers, and employers.". Milky Way Tech Hub will then begin its programming by helping participants understand the basic functionality of two of the most important tools of the 21st Century; a cell phone and a computer.
By the end of the program, participants will have gained basic knowledge of The Internet of Things and will be better equipped to enter today's workforce. Participants will be better prepared for primary interviews with local 2nd Chanceemployers. Ongoing support will be delivered by My Way Out and partnering reentry service providers.
Building a Path to Success
Six-week workshop designed to empower and equip participants with essential skills for a successful reintegration into the community. This collaborative initiative brings together the expertise of three organizations to offer a diverse range of modules aimed at fostering personal and professional growth.
The workshop will consist of the following modules:
1.Rent Smart (6 Modules): Learn crucial insights into responsible renting practices while developing essential financial management skills for successful reintegration.
2.Financial Literacy (6 Modules): Enhance your tech skills to confidently engage with technology and navigate online platforms.
3.Bridging the Tech Gap for Returning Citizens (4 Modules): Learn to craft an effective resume and master
interview techniques to help secure meaningful employment.
4. Resume Writing and Interviewing Skills (2 Modules): Crafting an effective resume and mastering interview techniques are key components of securing meaningful employment.
Where we work
External reviews
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Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn 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?
• Reduce recidivism for justice-impacted individuals regardless of criminogenic need and risk up to and beyond the 3 year period due to resource deficiencies, inadequate, inconsistent, comprehensive and/or coordinated reentry services personalized to the individual for employment, housing, health, and family reintegration that have customarily been lacking throughout our communities including equitable access to ongoing established relationships with providers.
• Reduce gaps and inconsistency in preparing justice-impacted individuals for transition back into the community with the current ratios of correction staff to institution residents, limited programming related to extent of need, limited staff supervision to conduct in-house programs, and variance across institutions of available programs for adult education, career/technical education, substance abuse, and mental health services that would prepare residents for scheduled release.
• Address comprehensive criminogenic needs of residents and related risks necessitate that coordination and consistent case management services should be aligned for each resident long-term with individualized pre- and post-release plans based on current, available resources with frequent opportunities for justice-impacted individuals to communicate with their case manager and eliminate barriers to success.
• Poverty, inequality and the stigma of incarceration make reentry almost impossible without multiple interventions and consistent support from individuals they trust and share experiences with.
• Both pre- and post-release, justice-impacted individuals would be more invested in their success and in preventing recidivism if they can personally take their first steps to empowerment by reaching out to supportive service providers themselves and prioritizing their needs and action issues.
• Medium to high criminogenic needs and risks need to be prioritized and addressed individually in partnership with the resident and an assigned supportive service provider to track actions and outcomes and reinforce accomplishments. Any barriers to success and potential interventions can be identified and acted upon in a timely manner in partnership with the resident both pre- and post-release with their assigned supportive services provider.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
• Structure newsletter communications for all Wisconsin correctional institutions to inform and educate residents about the services associated with My Way Out, their opportunities to prepare for scheduled release with participation in available trauma-informed treatment programs, higher education, workforce training and certification programs, and access to training in technology use upon release by indicating their interest in writing to work collaboratively with MWO.
• Rather than identifying and selecting individuals for participation based on criminogenic needs and risks, MWO leverages an individual’s own motivation and their feelings of empowerment to drive resident investment in pre- and post-release planning using personal interests and assets, skillsets, self-awareness and commitment to trauma-informed care and treatment, building on education, prior work experience, and the opportunity to have access to a MWO reentry supportive services provider 24/7 via the anti-bias mobile app platform or in-person post-release to address criminogenic needs and risks and reduce barriers to success with targeted referrals and follow-up.
• The opportunity for justice-impacted individuals to sustain communication and support from MWO reentry supportive service case managers continuously over a period of months and years through the MWO mobile app platform supports an individual’s commitment and creates a safety net to track priorities, action items, goals and accomplishments, education and training participation and completion, employer contacts and employment interviews, meetings with probation or parole officers, barriers and potential solutions, as well as provide demographic profiles, and content regarding housing, healthcare, and family and community reintegration issues.
• MWO and its reentry supportive services staff will improve correctional institutions sole reliance on correctional officers, the need for on-site access to residents for pre- and post-release planning, and provide up-to-date referrals post-release from probation and parole for wraparound safety net services by using MWO’s communication tools to establish pre- and post-release personalized reentry plans including employment opportunities in their release locations.
• With MWO’s technology platform for justice-impacted individuals, MWO will be able to communicate with and track over a period of years both short and long-term demographic data and outcome variables for preventing recidivism for all participants from low to high criminogenic need and risk on the impact of internal Earned Release programs, pre- and post-release interventions in treatment modalities, adult education enrollment, career/technical education participation, AODA programs, job-readiness training and employment sector hiring, housing and transportation issues, and access to family and community resources.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
MWO has identified key variables that contribute to recidivism including the lack of consistent, pre-planned reentry case management services and options for future housing shortly after sentencing, inconsistent coordination, collaboration and communication between providers and the corrections system, and the lack of more robust strategic pre-release and reentry workforce-readiness program participation, coaching and employment opportunities.
An October 2019 pilot project evaluation study funded by BJA reiterated that ‘finding employment plays a critical role in preventing recidivism.’ The white paper offered guidance on how to design employment-focused reentry programs that incorporate risk/need-responsivity (RNR) principles into service delivery; it included a tool to help policymakers and practitioners match people to appropriate services that have the maximum impact on recidivism and employment outcomes. The framework emphasized that connecting a person to the right combination of services and appropriate level of intensity during various points in reentry planning can reduce his or her chance of recidivating. These resources refocus a person’s time and efforts on prosocial activities, making the person less likely to engage in riskier behaviors and to associate with people who do. To test this framework, the pilot project focused on people returning from prison or jail to Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, and Palm Beach County, Florida, who were assessed as being at a moderate to high risk of reoffending and as having varying levels of employability. The results suggest that the challenges/successes aligned with the areas identified as fundamental to implementing a collaborative and coordinated approach to reentry planning: leadership commitment, timely use of assessments, detailed process analysis, capacity to meet the population needs, and data tracking. The pilot sites were successful in ensuring the resource-allocation and service-matching tool was used after release, but they needed to improve their efforts in assessing levels of job readiness and providing the appropriate employment-related services before release. To expand their implementation on a systems-wide scale, each site needed to refine their coordination and information-sharing agreements across the corrections and workforce development systems and engage executive leadership to increase service capacity capabilities for reentry and employment programming before and after release. To mitigate this challenge, program coordinators and community-based providers expressed that extending ownership of reentry planning to participants and incorporating the use of reentry-focused coordinators before and after release has been effective.
MWO will build on its current success in fulfilling wraparound case management needs create individual onboarding opportunities, and will connect individuals with second-chance employers maintaining case management services for 3 years.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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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
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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
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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
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
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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.
My Way Out Inc
Board of directorsas of 01/19/2024
Karen Coy Romano
Solutions Unlimited
Term: 2023 - 2024
Patrick Snyder
BizStarts
Barbara Cerda
Milwaukee LGBT Community Center
David Carlson
C.C. We Adapt
Decorah Gordon
IBEW Local 2150
Sarwat Sharif
Ph.D. Candidate in Social Welfare Dept. at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Rodrick Cureton
Milwaukee Bucks
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 ? Not applicable -
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? Yes -
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
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 08/19/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.