Mission Statement

Welcome!

This website was created by the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) and the Chicago Jobs Council as a project of the Governor’s Working Group on Community Safety and Re-entry to bring together the growing body of workforce resources available to those who assist ex-offenders.

We hope that the resources we have assembled will assist frontline, service provider staff to better understand their clients, work more effectively with employers, and help their clients access all the resources and supports they will need to be successful in the workplace.

What Do We Mean by “Ex-Offender?”

For the purpose of this website, we refer to a person with a criminal record as an “ex-offender.” Of course, this term does not tell you whether a person has spent time incarcerated, the type of crime committed, whether the person was falsely convicted, or the final result or disposition of their criminal charges. Still, because we believe it is the most commonly-used and generic term, we have elected to use it here for consistency and clarity.