A better understanding of how to connect with people in recovery who are ready to work and what training they need to be successful in the jobs available in your region; 

  A targeted list of employers in the region that have recovery-friendly job openings to engage in recovery to work efforts; 

  A collaborative outreach plan and materials for recruiting companies to hire people in recovery;  

  A better understanding of and access to information and resources that will help companies hire and support people in recovery. 

After completing Phase 3, it should be easier for companies in your region to understand the importance of hiring and supporting people in recovery and to know where to start. 

If you’ve followed the steps in Phase 1 (Defining Community Recovery) and Phase 2 (Getting Organized as Recovery Champions) of the Recovery to Work Ecosystem Builders Guide, you’ve likely already identified and connected with the recovery centers, programs, and courts that can identify people who are at a stage in their recovery in which they are work-ready. The next step is to collaborate with those same recovery-support partners to assess the existing technical and non-technical skills of the people being served and who are work- or training-ready.   

  Resource: Overview of State Recovery-to-Work Initiatives and Resources 

The more critical first question to address: what jobs are these workers in recovery ready for? There may be different types of employment that make sense depending on their phase of recovery.  For some, short-term or transitional work opportunities may make sense as a core element of their initial recovery process.  For others, they may be ready for careers that help them sustain fulfilling lives and careers to help support their recovery journey and offer hope. The types of employment reflect not only each individual’s recovery progress, but also their capabilities, interests, and skills in the context of a competitive job market. 

Resource: Use tools like CareerOneStop’s Interest Assessment, Skills Matcher, or Work Values Matcher to help the people you’re serving navigate potential careers. The Career One Stop site also includes tools for finding local training and apprenticeship programs. Other career navigation tools include My Next Move and the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook.

 Resource: Use MIT’s living wage calculator to estimate the local wage rate that a full-time worker needs to cover the costs of their family’s basic needs in your region.

As you learn more about the employers in your region and the positions they need filled, connect people in recovery with any additional training they need to be successful in the jobs for which they are most suited both in terms of their recovery journey as well as their personal passions and capabilities. These training sessions may focus on either soft and life skills or technical skills directly related to potential job opportunities. You can partner with your training providers to help them update or create programs that are responsive to both industry needs and the unique issues facing individuals being served who are in recovery. 

  Case Study: Hope Building in Southeastern Kentucky provides recovery-friendly, on-the-job training in the construction industry.

Build a Targeted List of Employers

With help from local employer champions and business-facing organizations, you can start to build a list of employers for initial outreach. As you create this list, consider defining and prioritizing what “quality job” and “recovery friendly employers” mean for your region. For example, as you define what sets people up for successful careers, consider industries and occupations that offer a living wage, transferable skills, and a recovery-friendly workplace culture. Creating a target list of employers will likely include both quantitative and qualitative work, and the list should be a regular discussion point between recovery-to-work partners.  

  Resource: What Matters in a Recovery Friendly Employer and Job

  Resource: One starting point for creating a list of employers is using job posting data to identify the companies that are hiring in your area. Some states provide access to this data through their Labor Market Information offices. For example, Pennsylvania’s Workstats hosts an Online Job Postings dataset that aggregates online job postings by county and workforce development area by several different categories, including industries, occupations, skills, and certifications. Another starting point for creating a list of local employers is CareerOneStop’s Business Finder.

In addition to using data to identify industries and companies that may be recovery-friendly, it’s important to tap into your network to help identify businesses that might be added to your targeted outreach list. Depending on your region, this could include chambers of commerce, local and regional economic development organizations, community-based organizations, and local workforce development boards. 

  Resource: Use this example of a letter to chambers of commerce in Connecticut as a starting point for outreach to business-facing organizations in your region to partner on employer engagement. Be clear about why the issue is important and what your specific ask of businesses is (ie, sharing a toolkit, participating in a survey, attending a business roundtable on the topic).

Once you’ve developed a targeted list of employers, work with your partners to encourage companies to hire people in recovery. Develop a shared message that clearly communicates the opportunity to hire people in recovery, the support you can provide as an ecosystem partner, and the resources available as a starting point.   

  Resource: Consider mobilizing employer champions to help with outreach to a larger group of companies in your region. This letter from Phillis Engelbert, co-owner of The Lunch Room Restaurant & Bar and The Lunch Room Bakery & Cafe in Ann Arbor, makes the case for hiring people in recovery “from one employer to another”. 

  Resource: Inform employers in your network using this Recovery-Ready Workplace Toolkit from the Federal Recovery Ready Workplace Interagency Workgroup.

Business-facing partners can raise awareness among employers at regular events and by including recovery-to-work collateral materials (brochures, one pagers, FAQs) in their regular communication with businesses.  

  Community Spotlight: A group of partners in southeast Ohio, led by the Ohio Mid-Eastern Governments Association and Coleman Health Services, developed a fact sheet for employers about hiring people in recovery that business-facing organizations provide in standard meetings with businesses, such as business retention and expansion visits.

  Community Spotlight: A region in southeastern Ohio has successfully engaged businesses through recovery to work business roundtables. Click here to see a roundtable hosted by the Ohio Mid-Eastern Governments Association and Coleman Health Services.

You can also consider using surveys to better understand employers’ willingness (or reluctance) in hiring people in recovery and the obstacles to convincing firms to make those hiring decisions. Surveys could also be a tool to help employers articulate and communicate their concerns in hiring or retaining individuals in recovery. 

  Community Spotlight: The Northwest North Carolina Opioid/Substance Use Collaborative’s employer engagement approach is driven by their implementation of the Recovery Friendly Workplace (RFW) program, which is an employer-based effort that enables employees with substance use disorder (SUD) to stay employed during their recovery. The Collaborative conducted a region-wide survey to gather data from employers to enhance their efforts to bring the RFW initiative to more communities. The full survey and results can be found here.

Early adopting employers can serve as champions and can be an effective voice in outreach efforts. There is no more powerful advocate for hiring people in recovery than a business leader with a positive experience. These champions offer legitimacy to peer employers in the community when making the case for hiring individuals with SUD. Communities can work through existing networks to provide opportunities for identified champions to interact with their peers and share relevant experiences. Creating videos or facilitating employer conversations (e.g., through Industry Summits) can help. You can highlight champions through various channels (peer events or other information sharing, etc.) to demonstrate the value and process to prospective recovery friendly employers.

Providing information, resources, and best practice guidance can help employers develop policies that both reduce potential risks and increase job retention for people in recovery. Regional leaders can take proactive steps to help businesses understand the role that a supportive workplace can play on the road to recovery. As an ecosystem builder, you can help employers navigate and access the right resources, programs, and tools to support employees in recovery, whether they are newly hired or already working in the company. Many states have developed their own toolkits to help employers navigate resources. These are useful starting points for ecosystem builders to understand state-specific resources and programs.  Revisit the list of state recovery-to-work resources to see whether your state has already built a toolkit.

  Resource: If your state does not have a toolkit, and you are looking for a comprehensive guide that you can share with employers, consider directing them to the National Safety Council’s Opioids at Work Employer Toolkit, Boston Medical Center’s Grayken Center Employment Resource Library, or the US Department of Labor’s Recovery-Ready Workplace Resource Hub.

Based on an analysis of more than 15 national and state-level toolkits and employer resources, here are some shortcuts based on the most common questions companies ask about hiring people in recovery: