Beyond the “Hiring” Sign
How Investing in Retention Breaks Cycles of Incarceration
By December Muhammad, Director of Employment Services
Over the years of advancing the mission at RISE, one fundamental truth has consistently emerged: breaking cycles of incarceration requires more than creating job opportunities. It requires building clear pathways to long-term stability and career growth.
Advocating for justice-involved individuals means helping employers see candidates for who they truly are: brave, intelligent, resilient, accountable, and deeply dependable.
Yet, bridging the gap between talent and traditional hiring expectations presents ongoing challenges.
Listening to Employers: The Soft Skills Gap
To better understand what holds long-term employment back, the RISE team went directly to business leaders with a simple question:
"What are you truly looking for in an employee?"
The answer was overwhelming and consistent: soft skills.
Employers frequently share that while technical tasks can be taught on the job, internal capacity to manage workplace communication, resolve conflict, or handle emotional triggers is often limited.
While traditional workforce development often stops at building a strong resume and acing an interview, sustainable reentry demands more. To break generational cycles of incarceration through employment, the critical leverage point is employment retention.
The CORE Approach: Preparing People to Keep the Job
To address this need, RISE’s employment team developed CORE:
Communication
Ownership
Responsibility
Employability
CORE is a workforce program that moves beyond traditional classroom lectures. It creates an interactive, scenario-based environment where participants work through real workplace situations, practice conflict resolution, navigate constructive feedback, and build mutual accountability.
For individuals returning to the community after years away from the workforce, or with limited prior work history, CORE provides a safe space to practice workplace expectations before stepping onto the job site.
Since the program was developed, 32 participants have graduated from CORE, with an active cohort of 13 currently in progress in collaboration with the Hope Ministry Center.
From Reentry to Leadership: A Success Story
What does this approach look like in practice? The story of a RISE graduate named Randy* highlights the potential.
When Randy first entered the program, background barriers left him feeling defeated and hopeless. Overcoming those barriers required building deep trust and focusing strictly on potential rather than past mistakes.
Through a new employment partnership with a local oganization, leadership trusted the process, and Randy stepped into unfamiliar territory. In 2024, he was hired as a Program Coordinator. Fast forward to today: Randy has been promoted to Director, taking over the leadership role of the person who gave him his initial chance.
Going from feeling overlooked to leading the very department that offered a second chance proves what happens when struggle is transformed into long-term stability.
*Name changed for privacy
Building Career Pathways in Nebraska
Getting hired is step one. Retention is the bridge. Career growth is the ultimate destination.
RISE is actively expanding employer partnerships across Omaha, Lincoln, and surrounding areas. The goal is to build pipelines that move individuals into roles offering livable wages, direct career pathways, and multi-generational financial stability.
When employment barriers are removed and people are equipped to retain their positions, the ripple effect extends to families and entire communities.
How to Get Involved
The people RISE works alongside continues to drive this work forward. Where they are today is not where they will always be, and the RISE team remains in their corner.
Community partners, volunteers, and prospective employers: Systemic change requires active collaboration.
Employers: Partner with RISE to access a talent pool of prepared, accountable, and dedicated candidates. Contact RISE’s Director of Employment Services, December Muhammad here to get more information on that process.
Volunteers & Donors: Support the expansion of the CORE curriculum and workforce initiatives across Nebraska. Donate here.
