Reentry Resources for Returning Citizens, their families, and loved ones: Reentry Centers & Job Help
This LibGuide contains information for individuals formally incarcerated or detained in county, state, or federal institutions, and are returning to or living in the state of Massachusetts.
Access to Affordable and Reliable Internet
The Mayor's Office of Broadband and Digital Equity provides opportunities and resources for residents to have greater access to high speed Internet in their communities, free public Internet, low cost Internet at home, and educational programs to ensure community members and local businesses are equipped with digital tools and skills.
Click on the link to learn more!
Related Library Resource Guides
While no list is complete and comprehensive, please browse the Boston Public Library resource guides below for additional resources related to employment, education, job skills, and more. If you need assistance, visit your local BPL branch location.
Map of Reentry Centers
The Massachusetts Parole Board operates regional reentry centers across the state. These centers help inmates make the transition from prison to the community. Staff help released inmates to get food assistance, obtain a state I.D. card, renew a driver's license, open a bank account, find work, and find counseling. These centers are open to released inmates with no post-release supervision. If you are a released inmate, members of our department may be able bring you to the reentry center closest to your release address. This program is also available to former inmates at any time after they are released.
How to Use Map
Zoom in using your mouse's scrolling feature or the and symbols on the map below. Click on each marker to learn the name of the organization or location, its address, and its contact information.
Job & Educational Resources
- Boston Career Link
Boston Career Link is a one-stop career center offering universal access to a broad range of career counseling services, career resources, workshops, career fairs, and special programs to connect job seekers looking to advance or change careers with employers. - Boston Public Library - Kirstein Business Library & Innovation Center
The Kirstein Business Library & Innovation Center (KBLIC) invites media creators, innovators, job seekers, entrepreneurs, nonprofits, investors, coders, and makers to our new space. Find career transition, job building, and skill development resources in the room's career alcove. - Career One Stop - Job Search Help for Ex-Offenders
CareerOneStop’s Job Search Help for Ex-Offenders website offers information, tips, and resources to help people with criminal convictions overcome barriers they might face. - Community Work Services
CWS helps people who face barriers to work obtain employment and achieve greater self-sufficiency through innovative job training, placement and support services. - CORI Friendly Job List - Boston Workers Alliance
Listing of CORI friendly employers. - Haley House Transitional Employment Program (TEP)
TEP provides a real, paid work experience producing wholesale bakery products for the Haley House Bakery Café. During the weekly “Cookie Bake” trainees learn both the hard and soft skills needed to maintain stable employment after incarceration. Additionally, Haley House collaborates with community partners to offer technology training and workforce readiness workshops. - Jewish Vocational Service in Boston (JVS) - Career Services
Programs included career services for SNAP recipients, one-stop career centers, job training programs, and skill building. - Massachusetts One-Stop Career Centers
Job seekers can get a variety of helpful services including; working with experienced career counselors, attending workshops and short-term training, developing a resume, writing cover letters, and more. - Project Place - Work Skills & Employment Services
The job-training program consists of month-long learning modules coupled with case management. Students learn how to conduct a job search and find out what’s necessary to get hired. - Roca : Less Jail, More Future
Roca’s Intervention Model is designed to help high-risk young men & women leave streets and gangs and go to work. Through relentless outreach, tailored programming and collaboration with community partners, Roca helps them transform their lives. - STRIVE Boston
STRIVE Boston helps chronically unemployed men and women realize their potential to find and keep jobs that promise sustainable livelihoods and personal growth.
STRIVE FORWARD Juvenile Justice Initiative (SFJJI) is a job-readiness program to recruit and enroll proven-risk young adults, ages 16 to 24. This program allows young adults the opportunity to receive life-changing workforce development training as well as an opportunity to benefit from an array of necessary services that they may not otherwise know about.
- ABCD - Educational Services
You’re looking to move forward and build a better life for yourself and your family. To help you reach those goals, ABCD offers a number of education and employment training programs and support that will help you get where you want to be. - American Student Assistance (ASA) College Planning Center
ASA provides in-person support for Massachusetts high school students, parents, young adults, and adults planning to attend college, searching and applying for scholarships and financial aid, and looking to achieve their dream of receiving a degree. - Boston Public Library - Computer & Technology ClassesClasses and workshops are held on a wide range of topics, including: basic computer classes, Internet basics, evaluating websites, internet safety, job searching and resume assistance, e-mail, smartphones and tablets, orientations to library e-resources, databases, and the catalog, introductions to Microsoft Office programs, and much more!
- CollegeBound Dorchester
College Bound offers high quality education opportunities for students at any place in their personal and academic development. Our students are those who have dropped out or been pushed out of traditional school settings and are disconnected from their education. - Jewish Vocational Service in Boston (JVS)JVS provides free ESOL classes and job training, the Adult Diploma Pathway program to obtain your GED, and a Bridges to College program that can help you develop the skills you need to succeed in college and prepare for a great career.
- Massachusetts Adult Literacy Hotline
The Massachusetts Adult Literacy Hotline provides referrals to over 300 adult education programs that offer one-on-one tutoring, small-group or classroom instruction to adult learners. We provide information about basic reading, math, adult basic education, English language training, family literacy, High School Equivalency Test preparation or testing sites. - Project Hope - Adult Educational Services
Project Hope established the Adult Educational Services program to meet the basic educational needs of homeless and low-income women. AES is for women 18 years of age and older. Offerings include Adult Basic Education (ABE) and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). It combines intensive academics with creative programming to foster each woman's empowerment and self-development as a launch pad to earning their High School Equivalency. - U.S. Department of Education - Federal Aid for Students with Criminal Convictions
Make sure you understand your status, and don’t assume you can’t get aid. Website includes FAQ, Glossary of Financial Aid terms, and access to forms.
- Boston Worker's Alliance
Boston Workers Alliance (BWA) is a community organization led by unemployed and underemployed workers fighting for employment rights. You can seek out BWA for information on your CORI report; assistance with sealing your CORI record; "Know Your Rights" Workshops on What CORI Reform means for you; job search support; job readiness training; and to Report Abuses in the Workplace, Employer CORI law violations, or Wage Theft. - CORI & Reentry Project - Greater Boston Legal Service
Legal advice and intake available at the following neighborhood locations: 1. Roxbury CORI Project: Roxbury Court, 85 Warren St. in Roxbury (2nd floor) on the 3rd THURSDAY of the month from 9 a.m. to noon except on holidays.
2. Dorchest CORI Project: Dorchester Court, 510 Washington St., Dorchester (1st floor near Clerk’s office) on the 2nd and 4th WEDNESDAYS of the month from 9 a.m. to noon, but not the 4th Wednesday in December or on holidays. - Massachusetts Department of Criminal Justice Information Services
CORI Department services include resources to help you: Determine if you can seal your criminal record, request a criminal record self audit, CORI Forms and information, etc. - MassLegalHelp
Easy-to-understand information about the Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) such as your rights, how to read a CORI, laws related to housing and employment, sealing your CORI, and alerts to changes or updates related to CORI law.
