Baltimore Delegation Members Announce $900,000 for Black Women’s Workforce Reentry and Development in Baltimore

Today, U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin and Congressmen Dutch Ruppersberger, John Sarbanes, and Kweisi Mfume (all D-Md.) announced $900,000 for PIVOT, a workforce reentry and development nonprofit in Baltimore that connects formerly incarcerated Black women with critical resources as they prepare to return to their communities. This project will work in partnership with PREPARE, a parole preparation nonprofit that provides pre-release services and reentry planning as part of the parole process.

“Formerly incarcerated individuals who have served their time deserve a fair shot to rebuild their lives. But we know that too many of these individuals – and especially Black women – lack the basic supports that are critical to successful reentry into our communities. PIVOT’s services ensure Black women have the resources they need to transition successfully back into the workforce and rejoin their communities and families,” said the lawmakers.

PIVOT’s program is one of the only of its kind in Maryland, focusing specifically on the reentry and employment needs of Black women. The curriculum includes group learning and individual case management, as well as personal success coaching and career counseling. PIVOT partners with corrections, law enforcement, employers, and transitional housing organizations, among others, to assist with every possible need upon participants’ reentry. Participants in PIVOT’s programs have an employment placement rate of 70 percent and a recidivism rate of less than 5 percent.