Ready4Work Now Available in St. Johns County’s Jail

Operation New Hope is pleased to announce that we will now be offering our nationally-recognized Ready4Work reentry training and support program to people prior to release from the St. Johns County Jail. This new and exciting partnership with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office is made possible because of a generous ARPA grant from the United Way of St. Johns County. 

The St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners allocated over $7 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to United Way-SJC to assist local, nonprofit agencies with expansion of social services. This exciting partnership has provided organizations within St. Johns County the opportunity to apply for funding to assist individuals in the community who were negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Operation New Hope is thankful to be one of the nonprofit recipients to be awarded grant funding to deliver our Ready4Work reentry services behind the wall at the St. Augustine Jail. 

As we rebuild our economy in the wake of COVID, we must maximize opportunity for all, especially individuals impacted by the criminal justice system. By investing in reentry programs, we reduce recidivism, corrections costs, and unemployment rates, and help identify potential employees for industries in need of capable workers. Operation New Hope currently serves people preparing for release at 30 state correctional facilities across the Florida, but this will be our first time delivering services at a county facility. This pilot program will also be the first of it’s kind in St. Johns County to deliver training and case management prior to release. We plan to expand this type of pre-release training to facilities across the State in partnership with the Florida Department or Corrections and other county jails as part of our Statewide Reentry Network.