About the program
Oregon’s WorkSource Reentry Initiative
The Oregon Workforce Partnership, in partnership with the Oregon Department of Corrections and the Oregon Employment Department, launched the state’s first WorkSource Oregon Reentry Program by embedding job-seeker services directly inside state prisons.
What began as a pilot at two facilities has since expanded statewide — the first program of its kind in the nation.
How we got here
From pilot to statewide program
2019
The question that started it all
Oregon Workforce Partnership asked: what if we treated reentry as a workforce solution, not only a criminal justice issue? A pilot launched at Deer Ridge Correctional Institution (Madras) and Warner Creek Correctional Facility (Lakeview).
2020–2022
Formal MOU and statewide expansion
A memorandum of understanding led by Oregon Workforce Partnership, supported by the U.S. Department of Labor and Oregon’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission, brought all nine Local Workforce Development Boards into the program.
2023
All 12 prisons, statewide
Oregon became the first state in the nation to operate workforce centers inside all state prisons — providing coordinated pre- and post-release employment support statewide.
June 2026
1,826 Oregonians enrolled — more than double the original goal
The program surpassed its enrollment goal of 900 by more than double. Employer retention among participants who reached the federal follow-up period: 100%. Recidivism rate: 3.01%, compared to 19% for Oregon’s general corrections population within 12 months.
Impact by the numbers