Community Reentry

Westside Health Authority’s Community Re-Entry Center specializes in helping all individuals with felony backgrounds, whether on-parole or off-parole, as well as returning citizens reintegrating back into their communities. Westside Health Authority offers its clients a caring and hope-filled environment in which they can thrive and have success. Services include job readiness training, job placement, support services, and vocational training. These free services are offered to individuals with a felony record, veterans, special needs, unemployed, underemployed and homeless residents of Chicago.

Key programs include:

Transitional Jobs (TJ) programs provide time-limited, subsidized employment opportunities coupled with intensive supportive services and skills development to eligible job seekers who lack a competitive work history and/or knowledge of the workplace necessary to obtain employment. The goal of the City of Chicago funded Transitional Jobs (TJ) program is to provide temporary subsidized jobs that combine real work, skill development and support services for participants that can result in permanent job opportunities with employer partners.

CTA Second Chance Program: CTA’s Second Chance program is a nationally recognized program that provides valuable job skills and career opportunities to Chicago residents who often face challenges re-entering the workforce. The Second Chance program takes a holistic approach to preparing individuals to be self-sufficient. It not only provides jobs to returning citizens, victims of abuse and others who face barriers to employment, but also offers a wide range of training, education, mentoring and networking opportunities which can lead to a long-term, meaningful career. The CTA Second Chance Program provides program participants with a 12-month, full-time paid training apprenticeship. After the 12-month apprenticeship, program participants are evaluated for full-time employment at the Chicago Transit Authority based on their attendance, work performance and behavior.                         

Employment Preparation and Placement Program: The Employment Preparation and Placement program aims to recruit clients that are out of work or under-employed, provide them with the necessary job readiness training to prepare them to obtain and retain the job, and then support them on their journey with vocational training, job placement, education, job placement and supportive services through at least 180 days of employment.

To register you will need:                                                                                

  • ID                                                                                                                       
  • Social Security Card                                                                                       

If you don’t have ID’s, please contact our case manager for assistance.

Walk-ins are welcome to register

Registration is held Monday thru Friday at either 9:00 AM or 11:30 AM    5417 West Division, Chicago IL 60651                                                               

 773-786-0226