Mayor John F. Street Establishes New Ex-offender One Stop Center!

In June 2005, Mayor John F. Street established the Mayor's Office for the Reentry of Ex-offenders (MORE).  A total of 1902 ex-offenders from federal, state and county prisons sought a broad range of services through the newly created office within the first year of operation.  Services provided included; job training,  placement and retention services; vocational training; job readiness training; life skills development;  housing assistance;  mental health and substance abuse treatment services; parenting; case management services; utilities assistance; and with the assistance of the Faith Based Community, mentoring services.  The response to the newly created office surpassed the expectations of many.   The need to expand was evident.  Strategic planning efforts began to unfold to locate and establish a central location to provide for the comprehensive needs of ex-offenders.

On February 5, 2007 Mayor John F. Street opened the City's first Ex-offender Reentry One Stop Center.  Building upon the demand for services by the ex-offender population, The One Stop Center has been designed to provide previously incarcerated individuals with an even broader range of transitional services to help them address the barriers many face as they strive to regain self-sufficiency and secure employment.  The goal of the One Stop Center is to reduce recidivism and to increase public safety by offering a comprehensive menu of support to former inmates at one location, under one roof.  Proposed services for FY08 include on-site career link accessibility; legal classes/services; child support modification assistance; paternity testing; GED/ABE classes; entrepreneurial seminars; and motivational lectures.  While many of the services are accessible on site, other critical resources are made available through a streamlined referral process to outside partners.  The support provided by the City's Reentry Partners including: Adult Probation and Parole; Department of Behavioral Health; Office of Supportive Housing; Philadelphia Defender's Association; Faith Based Partners; Philadelphia Prison System and the District Attorney's Office,  have contributed to the success of this multi-faceted center.

Services Offered

• Case Management
• GED Classes
• Housing
• Job Placement & Retention
• Job Readiness Training
• Job Training
• Legal Education Workshops
• Mental Health
• Mentoring
• Probation and Parole Access
• Substance Abuse
• Utilities Assistance 
• Motivational and Educational Seminars

Proposed Services (FY08)

• CareerLink Accessibility
• Child Support Modifications
• Identification restoration
• Legal Services
• Paternity Testing
• State-of-the-art Computer Technology
• Telephone, Fax and copier
• Other Free Resources